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15-03-2021

Prevention of colon cancer — a chance to avoid serious illness

Iliustracija

March is a month dedicated to the prevention of colon cancer. The National Health Insurance Fund under the Ministry of Health (NHIF), urging the population to take care of their health daily, once again recalls the importance of preventing this oncological disease. Currently, five preventive programs are being carried out in Lithuania, four of them are intended for early cancer diagnosis.

Preventive program of colon cancer has been carried out in Lithuania for the 17th year. It is intended for men and women aged 50 to 74 years (inclusive) with compulsory health insurance who can undergo a hidden bleeding test once every two years. If the test response is negative, the patient is healthy, if positive, the family doctor will issue a referral to the specialist doctor. Colonoscopy and, if necessary, biopsy allow objectively confirm or refute the diagnosis of colon cancer.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic significantly slowed the activity of the population through preventive programs, including the large intestine. According to the data of the NHIF in January 2021, 175 thousand people participated in the diagnostic program of colon cancer last year — 33 percent less than in 2019. This is very worrying because, according to doctors, more and more patients with advanced disease have been turning to them recently, making it much more difficult to treat it.

“Colon cancer is the fourth most common malignant tumour after prostate cancer, other skin tumours and breast cancer. In recent years, about 1500 cases of colon cancer have been diagnosed annually. In the structure of deaths from malignant tumours, colon cancer ranks second after lung cancer”, — says the head of the Department of General and Abdominal Surgery and Oncology of the National Cancer Institute Dr. Eugenijus Stratilatovas. According to him, although survival rates of colon cancer in Lithuania are improving, but they still remain among the lowest in Europe. Survival is greatly influenced by the stage of the disease at the time of its detection. “Only 34% of all cases of colorectal cancer in Lithuania are detected in stages I-II, while 17% of patients of both sexes are immediately diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Therefore, we doctors constantly stress that the signals sent by the organism cannot be ignored, it is necessary to take care of prevention and, of course, to participate in screening programs”, — says E. Stratilatovas.

According to Rasa Saviciūtė, Chief Specialist of the NHIF Service Expertise and Control Division, quarantine is not a reason to avoid verification under preventive programs. “It is important to know that if a person is not at the age prescribed by the program, but has complaints about his health, he should contact his family doctor. Taking into account the age of the patient and assessing the state of health, medical history and risk factors, he will assign the necessary tests in accordance with his competence and, if necessary, write out a referral for consultation with a specialist doctor”, — says the NHIF specialist.

According to her, funding for the prevention program of the large intestine is increasing annually. In 2020, EUR 4.8 million were allocated from the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF), EUR 3.9 million in 2019 and EUR 3.5 million in 2018. This year, 4.9 million euros are provided for this program.

A survey on the opinion of Lithuanian residents was performed on behalf of NHIF in July last year and it showed that the least people know about the prevention program of colon cancer (approximately 58 percent of the respondents know about colon cancer), most know about cervical cancer (66 percent) and breast cancer (65 percent). Only 10 percent of those surveyed reported to participate in the prevention program of colon cancer, while the number is 26 percent for cervical cancer.  

Patient health fund stresses out that people insured with mandatory health insurance can undergo a free health check by participating in five preventive programs: cervical, breast, prostate and colon cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

“This is an opportunity for many patients to receive a research free of charge, as funds for preventive health tests are allocated from CHIF. The funding of these programs is only increasing every year, with EUR 22 million in 2020 and EUR 24.5 million in 2021,” says R. Savičiūtė.

The NHIF invites you:

Your questions are welcome by email [email protected] or phone: local (8 5) 232 2222, international +370 5 232 2222.

Last updated: 27-05-2021

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