Promoting health and tackling diseases

The EU works to promote health and prevent diseases in areas such as cancer, mental health and rare diseases, and provides information on diseases via the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Fighting cancer has always been an EU priority. The EU invests funds in research projects and training programmes, adopts legislation and complements member states’ efforts by sharing information and best practices.

Tobacco consumption is responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths every year in the EU. The updated EU tobacco directive, aiming to make tobacco products less attractive for young people, became applicable in 2016. The Council recommendation on smoke-free environments of 2009 calls on EU countries to protect people from being exposed to tobacco smoke in public places and at work.

About 30 million Europeans are affected by rare and complex diseases. To help with diagnoses and therapies, the EU set up the European Reference Networks (ERNs) in 2017. The 24 existing virtual networks bring together specialists from different countries working on different issues, for example on patient safety or prevention of antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is on the rise, due to the overuse of antibiotics, improper disposal of medicines or the lack of development of new substances. It causes about 33,000 deaths per year in the EU. The EU’s 2017 action plan against antimicrobial resistance aims to promote awareness and better hygiene as well as stimulate research. A new regulation on veterinary medicinal products was adopted in 2018, to curb the use of antibiotics in farming and halt the spread of resistances from animals to humans.

Several EU countries are facing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, due to insufficient vaccination coverage rates. In a resolution adopted in 2018, MEPs call for a better aligned schedule for vaccination across Europe, more transparency in the production of vaccines and joint purchases to reduce prices.