STATE OF CANCER SCREENING PROGRAMMS IN SLOVAKIA 2023
We have published the fourth comprehensive annual report about the state of three organized general cancer screenings in Slovakia. Moreover, it maps the current possibilities and conditions for the introduction of new screening programs for lung and prostate cancer.
Our common goal is to reduce mortality as well as morbidity of oncological diseases via screenings, i.e., early detection of diseases in potentially curable stages.
More informationCANCER SCREENING COMMISSION IN THE SR
The new Cancer Screening Commission met on April 15, 2021. List of committee members is available at the MoH SR website.
Statutes of the Cancer Screening Commission of the MoH SR are published HERE.
Preventive and screening measures have a huge importance in healthcare. Screening, also referred to as secondary prevention, aims to search for the disease at an early stage, thus increasing the possibility of curability with the assumption of less burdensome treatment and reducing morbidity and mortality for the appropriate disease. It is also possible to detect a disease in a pre-cancerous stage via oncological screening, i.e. in a pre-invasive stage whose successful treatment can prevent the development of an invasive oncological disease completely.
Until recently, oncological screening in Slovakia was taking place only opportunistically, however, the situation changed in 2019. The first phase of organized colorectal cancer screening was carried out and then evaluated from January to October 2019. The screening has continued in the same form since September 2021. Health insurance companies started inviting women to mammography breast cancer screening in September 2019. In spite of 3-month-long break in 2021 due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the screening now continues. Cervical cancer screening program was initiated as well and health insurance companies have been inviting women since July 2021.
A report about screening programs in Slovakia in 2023 is available HERE.
The success of oncological screening programs depends on expert preparation and degree of participation of the population at risk. From this point of view, continuous and correctly targeted awareness campaign is crucial. Information about the screenings in preparation and ongoing ones is regularly updated on NOI website.