Cancer and a lost opportunity

international | eu | opinion/analysis Wednesday November 23, 2005 17:38 by Kathy Sinnott

With a close friend battling cancer and another friend going in for a biopsy next week, I am even more acutely aware of the breathtaking inadequacy of our cancer treatment services than usual.

Prevention, where it is possible, is vital but the crisis in Irish cancer treatment makes me even more determined to promote anything that will help avoid the disease.

More than four years ago a decision was taken at EU level to deal with the chemical poisoning of people in European countries. Everyone who is aware of the enormity of the problem knew that chemicals must be classified according to degree of danger, then registered and controlled, and that this must be done urgently. So the EU decided to take a stand and curb our crazy, destructive romance with dangerous chemicals. The initative to get a handle on chemicals and establish safety standards on those that manufacture or import them or use them in production was named European Registration and Authorisation of Chemicals Directive, or REACH.

Selling REACH has been hard. Chemical companies and companies that use their products all predicted economic calamity if it was passed. And they wre right, the extra costs and restrictions of chemical usage could effect their competitiveness if only European companies were forced to comply. But this effect could have been neutralised if everything imported and sold in Europe was also required to comply with better chemical standards. This would have put the competition, at least in Europe, on an even playing field.

The initial intention of protecting health and environment seemed to get lost in the process as REACH went through multiple dilutions. After almost half a decade of research, debate, lobbying, and voting, REACH has morphed beyond recognition. As an MEP concerned about people's health and also concerned that families have jobs, I worked for a strong but workable REACH. Last week, after a two hour vote on amendments in the European Parliament, I could not in conscience vote for the tattered REACH that was left. For me two key elements were missling in the original document and were never really addressed. The document dealt with chemicals, metals and other substances in individual, isolated form. Which is OK if they are used in that form but this does not reflect the toxicity or safety of substances in combination, which is how chemicals are used in the vast majority of cases. REACH did not deal with this everyday phenomenon and was therefore rendered incapable of eliminating the now everyday phenomenon of serious, debilitating or even fatal illnesses like cancer.

The other problem is that REACH in the form it was finally presented to Euro MPs posed a real threat to business and this in the context of the EU militates against any real change. This was tragic because there was a way to have an effective chemical directive without threatening the economic survival of companies across Europe.

The final version of REACH was to no one's liking, according to the various EU group re-resentatives who spoke before the final vote. Though about 200 MEPs voted against REACH or abstained from voting for it, it was passed by the parliament. As far as I am concerned, everyone lost - most of all the citizens struggling with chemical overload. In the meantime let's keep fighting for better cancer treatment...as things are, we'll need it!