Organized Colorectal Cancer Screening in the European Union

In 2003, the European Union Council urged member states to introduce organized population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with quality assurance programs. Subsequent reports have documented implementation status and level of organization for breast, cervical, and CRC screening programs. Now, researchers report findings of a cross-sectional study of CRC screening program performance across European Union countries, using quality indicators recommended by international guidelines.

• Coverage by examination (number of participants undergoing a primary screening test in the reference year, divided by the target population) for individuals aged 50 to 74 was 14% overall (range across countries, 1%–53%).

• Participation was higher in countries w…