29/10/2026
Today, at the SUNRISE Policy Webinar on Adolescent Cancer Prevention, I made one point clear: we cannot ask young people to make healthier choices while leaving the environments around them unchanged. Prevention is not simply about awareness, education or individual resilience. It is about structural protection, equity and political accountability.
My central proposal: comprehensive cancer-free zones around adolescents — both physically and digitally. This requires coordinated action at European, national and local levels, backed by clear responsibilities, sustainable funding and public accountability.
The European Commission and EU co-legislators must strictly enforce and strengthen the Digital Services Act (DSA), revise the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), and finally deliver on the delayed legislative commitments of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan on to***co taxation, plain packaging and mandatory alcohol health warnings, because no mayor or school principal in Cluj, Brussels or Madrid can confront TikTok’s algorithms and cross-border to***co and food lobbies alone. The real measure of success is not just whether young people change their behaviour, but whether society changes the conditions that shape it.
Thank you to the SUNRISE project and the Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuță” in Cluj-Napoca for bringing policymakers, public health experts and advocates together for this important conversation.
🔗 Explore the SUNRISE project: https://thesunriseproject.eu/