The fight against cancer will continue, with funding maintained for the extensive plan currently underway in France until 2030, and some new initiatives, such as lung cancer screening. However, experts believe some shortcomings remain, such as alcohol prevention.
“We must not abandon this effort, we must strengthen it,” declared President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, announcing “more than €1.7 billion invested over five years” to finance the second phase of the 2021-2030 anti-cancer plan, in a video broadcast at the start of a day organized by the National Cancer Institute (INCa). This level is similar to the budget allocated to this “ten-year strategy” over the past five years.
This is the heir to the cancer plans launched in the 2000s under the presidency of Jacques Chirac against this disease which still affects more than 400,000 French people per year and remains the leading cause of death in men and the second in women after cardiovascular diseases.
The current plan was launched in 2021 by Mr. Macron, with the ambition of covering a wide range from prevention to improving patient care, including accelerating screenings and encouraging research on rare or pediatric cancers.
The first half of the 2020s saw the implementation of emblematic measures: the introduction of vaccination in middle school against papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer, or the generalization of the ban on smoking in public places.
The program for the coming years remains largely in line with previous ones. Still coordinated by the INCa, it was presented in broad outline this Wednesday, World Cancer Day.
Among the main new developments is the creation – officially announced at the end of 2025 – of a national cancer registry, intended to better understand, prevent and treat them.
The INCa will also be experimenting from March with lung cancer screening, in order to assess whether it is worthwhile to generalize it in the future alongside breast, cervical and colorectal cancers.
This experiment is expected to include 20,000 people aged 50 to 74, smokers or ex-smokers for less than 15 years, in at least ten regions over the next two years.
– “Continuity” –
The institute is also taking on the task of "defining priorities" by reducing the number of measures in the program to focus on five target groups: young people, the elderly, the world of work, people with disabilities and overseas territories.
But overall, "we are in continuity," commented researcher Manuel Rodrigues, vice-president of the French Cancer Society, to AFP, who particularly welcomed the maintenance of the level of funding.
"This is good news in principle, I was afraid it would be reduced," notes Mr. Rodrigues, though he is wary about the funding for the cancer registry, a project he considers very useful but probably costly.
Above all, he questions how to implement this strategy in concrete terms, particularly regarding prevention, a concern echoed by other actors.
“Five years ago, we were already saying: ‘We’re going to do everything for prevention’… We haven’t seen much come of it,” added Philippe Bergerot, president of the League Against Cancer, wary of mere “incantations”.
And a regret expressed by all of AFP's interlocutors: the anti-cancer strategy remains timid when it comes to alcohol, in view of the progress made against tobacco with a marked decrease in daily consumption since 2020.
While phasing out tobacco is clearly part of the strategy, the latter only focuses on the objective of combating "harmful uses" with regard to alcohol, concentrating only on certain populations: young people, pregnant women, alcohol-dependent people…
“The risk of cancer is triggered from the very first drink: this would justify an information and prevention policy for the general population, not just pregnant women and young people,” laments addiction specialist Amine Benyamina, president of the association Addictions France. He deplores the fact that prevention efforts in this area have been “at a standstill for three years,” attributing this to the influence of the wine and alcohol lobbies.
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