08/10/2026
Bulgaria, Greece and Romania launch a new investment plan for connectivity from the Aegean to the Black Sea
04/10/2026
Vigenin in Strasbourg: EU-China relations must be built on dialogue
07/10/2026Bulgaria, Greece and Romania launch a new investment plan for connectivity from the Aegean to the Black Sea
04/10/2026Vigenin in Strasbourg: EU-China relations must be built on dialogue
07/10/2026
Vigenin: The fight against cancer requires clear institutional responsibility
The MEP committed to protecting funding for the fight against cancer in the next EU budget
“It is very important to have clear institutional responsibility – who is responsible for what, by when, and how we measure the result. There are many ideas and many initiatives, but in the end all of this has to start working as a system. Without that approach there will be no results.” This was stated by Bulgarian MEP Kristian Vigenin, of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, who took part in a discussion on the development of the Bulgarian National Hub of the Mission on Cancer. It was held as part of the Annual Assembly of the Joint Oncology National Network and the 17th National Oncology Conference MORE 2026. The event brought together representatives of institutions, science, healthcare, education, local government, business and civil society.
Science, prevention and treatment in one system
Vigenin pointed out that in Bulgaria the problem is not whether we have good specialists and projects. “The question is whether these efforts are connected in one working system. And I think that is where we can do more,” he said. That is why, in his view, the Bulgarian National Hub of the Mission on Cancer shows how to connect science, prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and innovation, with patients involved in that system.
EU funds do not replace national responsibility
The MEP stressed that European programmes can provide funding, knowledge and partnership opportunities, but they cannot replace national responsibility. “Institutions have to work with the understanding that every one of us is a patient. Developing the system benefits the whole of society, and every additional effort is worth it. Instead of saying ‘That is not my responsibility’, each of us should be able to say ‘What can I do, in the position I hold, to make things better?’ That is why we need clear management of the process, working data and a clear mechanism of interaction that connects science with healthcare, patients and public authorities,” Vigenin said, setting out a way to solve some of the sector’s problems.
Two concrete commitments in the European Parliament
As a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health, Kristian Vigenin took personal responsibility to work in two concrete directions: “On the one hand, to give these problems more visibility and publicity at both European and national level. On the other, to make sure that health funding is not only preserved but increased, and that the money for Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is also guaranteed and not redirected, as some have suggested.” The MEP is already pressing his European colleagues to make healthcare, and EU-level funding for the fight against cancer, a real priority.
