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Health Minister[/B] Michael Hadjipandela said on Saturday that his aim is to strengthen public hospitals and oncology centres.
Addressing a round table discussion at a conference organised by AKEL on the new European Cancer Strategy and the Cypriot reality, the Health Minister said that implementing prevention programmes and strengthening people's ability to adopt a healthy lifestyle can bring about significant improvements in the prevention of the disease so that cancer cases do not increase.
He then listed the actions taken by the Ministry of Health to prevent and treat cancer, citing the anti-smoking campaign, the campaign on prostate cancer, breast cancer, bowel cancer, genital cancer and others.
He added that the Ministry of Health is also promoting the expansion of secondary prevention programmes, developing organised population-based programmes, which have been proven to contribute to a 30% reduction in cancer mortality.
He said that specifically the Ministry of Health is promoting the nationwide expansion of the screening programme for colorectal cancer, adding that the priority is the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, the most common female cancer, and said that based on European guidelines, the Ministry of Health is planning the age extension of the Population Breast Cancer Early Detection Programme to the ages 45-69.
He said that according to the Cyprus Cancer Registry, in 2020 there were 604 new cases of breast cancer recorded in women and 6 new cases in men.
In addition to the above actions, the Ministry of Health promoted the preparation of a law for the provision of palliative care services to affected patients in order to include them in the YESY, he continued.
[/P]Mr. Hadjipandela also said that the Ministry of Health recently appointed the National Cancer Commission, which is the first board of the National Cancer Institute, which will be the scientific body of expertise in cancer issues to organize and coordinate all activities related to the treatment of the disease.
Finally, he said that the main concern of the Ministry of Health is that cancer patients who continue to fight the battle with the disease with dignity should feel that the State can guarantee their reliable, quality and effective care.
AKEL's firm position is that the fight against cancer goes through the strengthening of public health, said AKEL Parliamentary Representative Giorgos Loukaides, adding that the creation of high-quality Radiotherapy Centres and the existence of oncology departments in all public hospitals in Cyprus is an absolute necessity.
He also expressed the view that the situation regarding the care of cancer patients is becoming even more difficult, as the pandemic has found hospitals brought to their knees by the austerity policies promoted for years by the Brussels directorate, pushing states to cut health spending and privatise the sector.
He also referred to the action of AKEL and the European Union Left group which, following pressure exerted in the European Parliament, in June 2020 managed to have the creation of a new special committee (BECA) approved by the plenary session with a mandate to formulate an integrated European strategy to combat cancer.
Party MEP George Georgiou, shadow rapporteur of the BECA report, said he was working with AKEL to ensure that the new strategy would truly respond to the needs of cancer patients, offering substantial solutions to the various problems and promoting comprehensive proposals to strengthen prevention and early diagnosis.
"After intense deliberations, we succeeded in getting a comprehensive report with very important references voted by an overwhelming majority in the plenary of the European Parliament," he said, adding that the text was inspired by the human-centred principles we had set out as a left-wing group.
Among other things, he said the report sets as a key objective the fight against inequalities in terms of prevention, early diagnosis, access to quality care and the possibility of reintegration into society, and stresses the urgent need for a European charter of rights for cancer patients at every stage of care.
Head of the Health Sector of KE AKEL Chrysanthos Georgiou provided 36 contributions on all aspects of dealing with cancer and its impact.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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