Proposition 53K2665

Proposition de résolution visant l'amélioration de l'éducation et de la détection précoce des cancers cutanés afin de stopper leur progression constante et rapide.

General information ¶

Authors

Ecolo Muriel Gerkens
Open Vld Ine Somers
PS | SP Colette Burgeon
Vooruit Maya Detiège

Submission date

Feb. 21, 2013

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

health risk cancer resolution of parliament public health disease prevention

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld MR

Abstained from voting

∉ N-VA LDD VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Peter Luykx (CD&V) abstained from voting.

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

July 17, 2013 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

The rapporteur, Mr. Franco Seminara, refers to his written report.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, although some forms of cancer are unfortunately more popular than others, we have chosen to emphasize, with some of my colleagues, one form of cancer still unknown to the general public and whose severity is too often relativized: skin cancer.

Discreetly, this form of cancer is in sharp progression. This development may be viewed as positive. This means that our country has made significant progress in screening and diagnosis. But – and this is where politics can act – this constant progression is not a fatality, we can easily reverse the trend. Indeed, skin cancer has this particularity of being preventable and easily cured if taken early enough. For this, prevention, awareness and early diagnosis are essential elements.

By submitting this text, by discussing in the committee and, today, in the plenary session, I hope to be able to raise awareness of this problem to as many people as possible. The main risk factor is exposure to the sun. Also, the message is simple: this exposure must be reasonable and reasonable. It costs nothing, except the purchase of sunscreen. Furthermore, we remind the authorities that a message, in order to be understood and accepted by all, must be adapted to different target audiences: parents of young children, workers exercising a profession outside, etc.

Finally, and this is ⁇ important, the proposal for a resolution emphasizes solar panels, highly appreciated by some, classified as carcinogenic by the WHO. I took the initiative, already in the previous legislature, to submit a text aimed at strengthening the prevention of risks associated with the use of ultraviolet radiation of aesthetic character. The elements of this text have been reflected in this proposal for a resolution. So I can only rejoice.

In conclusion, I hope that this resolution proposal will receive widespread support, but also and above all a certain echo to advance mobilization against skin cancer. I thank you for your attention.

Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Burgeon has already taken part of the reasoning, but it is important to emphasize that, despite the many measures previously taken to avoid long-term sunbathing, the number of people diagnosed with skin cancer continues to increase annoyingly every year.

Not only the experts who participated in the roundtable discussions were responsible for this. Also, the figures from the Foundation Cancer Register confirm that between 2004 and 2010 there was a clear increase in incidence in both men and women. According to the Foundation, one in six Belgians develops a form of skin cancer. Fortunately, it is usually a form that can be perfectly treated locally, but 1 in 75 people develops melanoma, the most malignant form of skin cancer. Every year, sadly, 300 people die in our country from skin cancer.

To give you an idea of the seriousness of the situation: in just five years, the number of people with skin cancer, so all forms, in our country almost doubled. From 11 000 officially registered cases, it went to 20 000. Fortunately, the significant increase has also been linked to better registration.

However, experts note that despite previous awareness campaigns, people still greatly underestimate the risks of long-term exposure to the sun. People lie baked in the sun or under the sunbank and continue to lack adequate protection. Many solar products, by the way, offer little protection and therefore give a false sense of safety.

Therefore, in our resolution, we call for the intensification of awareness-raising campaigns and their more targeted, for example, to young solar bank users. I suspect that my mother will now smile when she hears me busy. After all, when I was a year or twenty, I asked her if she wanted to pay for a sunscreen for my birthday. I remember literally her answer: “I don’t give my daughter skin cancer as a birthday gift.” What do you want, when I was twenty and still had a complete gift of skin, Cancer was a far-from-my bed show.

Even today, young people apparently still reason in the same way and long-term sunshine remains a real fashion phenomenon. For this reason, it is not bad that the resolution also calls for a stricter control of solar products and solar banks.

The detection of skin cancer can also be better than today. After all, a quick diagnosis is crucial in the fight against skin cancer, because if the doctors are on time, they can treat most forms perfectly, often even with a small, purely local intervention. But even with the much more dangerous melanoma, timely detection can make a world of difference. The faster the diagnosis and treatment, the greater the chances of survival in a melanoma.

Therefore, we ask that the screening for skin cancer be included in the prevention checklist of the general doctor’s global medical record, and this for patients from 45 years of age. In addition, we also ask, logically, to link this to a better training of the general physicians in this area.

Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues Burgeon, Gerkens and Somers, in particular, for having been able to organize a good round table together, and I would also like to thank my colleagues in the committee, who have contributed to strengthen the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Minister, dear colleagues, allow me to address three ⁇ important aspects in this proposal for a resolution that we discussed in the Health Committee: awareness campaigns, early screening and the use of solar banks.

First, we strongly support prevention campaigns organized by the federal in collaboration with federal entities or through private initiatives. These campaigns aim to inform the public about the characteristics of skin cancer and the preventive measures to be taken. Ultimately, repeating the message remains the key to success and will induce a change in the behavior of citizens.

Early detection is the best chance of healing of skin cancers, especially melanoma, the most serious of them due to its metastatic potential. There is no screening for melanoma organized by public authorities, like screening programs for breast cancer or colorectal cancer.

Early detection of melanoma is therefore based on the initiative of a healthcare professional or the patient who has detected a suspicious injury on his skin. That’s why we think it’s relevant to include skin cancer screening in the list of DMG+ prevention checks carried out by general practitioners.

Finally, the resolution proposal was usefully supplemented by a section concerning the problem of the use of the solar bench. For the Reform Movement, it was not rational to deal with a draft resolution on skin cancer by concealing this problem. This is why we agreed to the amendment signed by the majority.

According to a study published by the British Medical Journal, people who use the solar panel would have a 20% additional risk of developing skin cancer. According to experts, the main cause of malignant melanoma is excessive exposure to ultraviolet light, especially in combination with endogenous factors such as phototype and genetic predisposition.

They also tell us that, over many years, the incidence of melanoma in Europe has increased alarmingly. The reason for this phenomenon would be related to our lifestyle with a bronzing culture that results in increased exposure to UV from the sun and solar banks.

These findings therefore reinforce our recommendations to the government regarding the monitoring of compliance with the standards concerning solar banks, their use and the instructions for consumer information of these banks.

For these reasons, the MR Group will support the resolution proposal under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, in my turn, I will join the thanks to Mrs. Detiège and Mrs. Burgeon for the collective work around this resolution, which seems anodine. But we have seen for a decade that the progression of skin cancers is phenomenal. It is therefore important to take action in this regard.

We also know that it is the prevention, rapid detection of lesions, problems that appear on the skin that will prevent the development of cancer tumors and, sometimes, save the lives of some people when it comes to melanomas and they are discovered early enough.

When we organized our roundtable on this subject in January 2012 with various general physicians and specialists, I became aware that these skin cancers could also cause ravages and facial deformations that impede the lives of young people who have been exposed too much to the sun or who have had tumors, defects that they had not noticed and against which they had not taken adequate precautions. This is a serious and worrying issue.

Another element appeared to us during this round table, namely that there are those who choose to expose themselves to the sun during the holidays or using a solar bench, but there are also those who work outdoors and who are exposed to the rays if there is sun, throughout the day, every day of the week. These are the people who work in the gardens, on our roads... Particular attention must also be paid to them to prevent, through work, that they expose themselves too much to the sun and run these risks due to exposure.

In the same way, it was highlighted the need to raise awareness among maternity teachers, children’s hosts, child-growers, colony monitors, so that, when it is beautiful, children are always protected, through sunscreen or clothes, if they play outside.

Beyond this extension of the framework, what motivates this resolution is the need to conduct prevention campaigns repeatedly, but also, if possible, in an attractive way, for those people who want to be bronzed. It is true that this is part of the criteria of beauty, fashion. So, when there is no sun, these people use solar banks. It is essential that these solar panels are more controlled, that they comply with a number of quality standards, but also contain information for users. An amendment has been adopted in this regard.

Among the important elements of this resolution, there is the need to detect any anomaly sufficiently early, through the general physician and the specialist physician. It is the generalist who meets the patient on a regular basis. He should have even more opportunity to examine the skin of patients during consultations, even places that are not seen every day. There is not only the arm and cheek, there are also the other parts of the body, which we do not look at spontaneously and regularly.

It is therefore important that – this is what our resolution aims at – in the case of young people, general practitioners are well informed about this preventive examination and send, when necessary, patients who come to consult them with a specialist physician. However, people over 45 years of age should also be given special attention within the framework of DMG+. In fact, it is known that it is from this age that a whole series of spots appear on the skin, some of which can prove dangerous. This is the object of this resolution which requires coordination, collaboration between the federal state and the federal entities.

In this month of July, the month during which the sun finally decided to shine to bring us all its benefits, it is important to remember that this sunshine also requires precautionary and preventive measures on our part, on the part of citizens and health actors.

Mr. Speaker, since the rapporteur makes it misleading, I would like to say the following.

This proposal for a resolution was approved in the committee on the run-up, even before the summer break. This happened without being able to hear the ministers involved, even if this was explicitly requested, and without respect for the Flemish opposition. I want to underline that.

A number of amendments were submitted on the spot to give more content to the resolution, which mainly deals with Flemish powers and which is already partially outdated as most summer campaigns are behind, including by referring to the solar banks.

I also submitted an amendment concerning powers that are still federal, namely the doctor’s visits and the financial regulation in this regard.

In the treatment of health policy, the Flemish Belang attaches great importance to prevention and preventive research. We want to encourage the population to undergo active preventive medical examination from a certain age, including for information around and detection of skin cancer in the light of the Global Medical Dossier Plus.

With active incentives we mean rewarding individuals through a health discount, a reduced brake money or a reduced contribution, something that will be repaid in the future. As a result, the federal level would actually contribute to promoting a healthy lifestyle and timely detection of skin cancer.

Our amendment was not stopped. As the previous speakers have also said, it is now a little more sensitizing, with which the colleagues would like to place themselves in the audience before the summer holiday. I give them that tranquility and wish them, but also the general population, a well-deserved and sunny, but above all also a safe and responsible summer vacation.

However, I am afraid that this will not attract much attention from the media at the moment. After all, there are other issues they are currently dealing with.

Furthermore, I am of the opinion that there are also many more urgent issues that we should address in the Public Health Committee. The Flemish Interest will therefore abstain from voting on this resolution.