Funding cuts for public health projects in Europe may affect international cancer effort.

The decision to halt funding for several major public health projects will force Europe to lose an " incredible opportunity " to build on the achievements of the Europe Against Cancer program, according to head of clinical programs at Cancer Research U.K. " It was just buried on a Web site. It's a reflection of the way that the [European Union] works. Communication is not its forte. " The threatened projects, including EPIC, EBCN, and ENCR, were launch as a major part of Europe Against Cancer, an EC-wide action plan aimed at reducing cancer mortality through public health efforts that range from encouraging healthy eating to introducing larger health warnings on cigarette packs. EPIC, the largest ever study of its kind, involves more than half a million people in 10 countries, has accumulated data on 25,000 cancer cases, and is just beginning to produce important findings, Boyle said. The ENCR has created quality control standards for cancer registration throughout Europe, preparing the way for EUROCARE, which has accumulated data from 67 population-based cancer registries in more than 20 countries. The EC's Public Health Directorate has become the enemy of many of Europe's cancer scientists for its funding decision. But Boyle said that the directorate is aware that a public health approach has been successful and remains important. " Unfortunately, it appears that their hands have been somewhat tied by the legislation authorizing the distribution of the funding available, " he said. " Until recently they've been outstanding in funding major public health networks and initiatives. " The funding decisions highlight the inevitable conflict between scientific objectives and other public priorities within the institutional triangle that lies at the heart of this unique brand of policy making: The European Commission includes 17,000 officials headed by 20 commissioners , including a health policy commissioner; the European Parliament has more than 600 members, directly elected every 5 years; and the Council of Ministers represents the governments of all member states and its approval is required for all major decisions. In theory, the EC proposes law and policy and the Parliament and Council approve them. In practice, the EC needs support from the other two bodies to launch major new projects. When Karin Jöns, a German member of the European Parliament and chair of the European Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer, protested against not funding the projects, she said that she was told that …