The latest figures from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveal patterns in cancer and mortality across the 27 countries of the European Union.
There are five types of cancer for which Greece exceeds the average mortality of the 27 countries of the European Union, namely, bladder cancer (6th worst), brain and central nervous system cancer (4th worst), leukemia (6th worst ) and liver cancer (6th worst).
In addition, lower mortality is observed in 9 of the 13 serious forms of cancer, but with much better survival rates in cervical cancer (7th best) and colon cancer (3rd best).
These are just some of the conclusions of the recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) titled Beating Cancer Inequalities in the EU, focusing on prevention and early detection, which examined policies and actions for addressing cancer, with a focus on addressing risk factors, improving screening coverage and earlier diagnosis to address relevant trends and inequalities in cancer.
Prevalence in Europe
As the report concludes, overall, cancer mortality remains high (representing 22.5% of all deaths) and differs by 1.6 times between EU countries and Iceland and Norway.
The highest age-standardised cancer mortality rates are observed in Central and Eastern European countries (Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovak Republic and Slovenia), while Western European and Nordic countries (specfically Finland, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden) have the lowest mortality rates.
However, the risk of death varies even within countries. For example, cancer mortality rates differ by up to 37% between regions in Romania and by at least 30% between regions in France, Germany, Poland and Spain.
Overall, it is estimated that in 2022, there were 2.78 million new cancer cases (in all areas except non-melanoma skin cancer) in the 27 Member States of the European Union, as well as in Iceland and Norway. Compared to 2020, there is an increase of around 65,000 incidents.
In relation to gender, men have almost 70% higher mortality rates than women, while those with a lower educational level are 2.6 times more likely to die from lung cancer than those with a higher educational level – while for women, this rate is 1.7 times.
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