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08-11-2022

The health insurance funds invite men to check for prostate cancer

Iliustracija

Since November is a Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the health insurance funds have been reminding of the prostate cancer prevention programme, offered in Lithuania, inviting men to contact their general practitioners for a free health check-up.

According to Šiauliai territorial health insurance fund (THIF), only 7,051 of 56,348 target men, registered with medical facilities in Šiauliai and Telšiai districts have checked their health in the first half of this year. 140 of them had an appointment with a urologist. Nevertheless, men that do not come for their check-up are more likely to get prostate cancer. According to the Institute of Hygiene, 22,038 men suffered from prostate tumours in Lithuania last year. That is 269 more than the year before last. For 526, this was the cause of death.

Prostate cancer prevention programme applies to men, aged 50–69 (inclusive), but, if the prostate cancer runs in the family (fathers or brothers), the age limit is lowered to 45 years. The purpose of this programme is to detect changes as early as possible and start treatment immediately.

‘The efficiency of the programme depends on the awareness of the men taking part in it. The more men check their health, the better results of preserving their health we can expect.’ says Dalia Miniauskienė, Deputy Director, acting Director on a temporary basis of Šiauliai THIF division.

During the prostate cancer prevention program, general practitioners recommend a blood test that shows the concentration of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood. If the PSA exceeds the norm, the general physician will issue a referral to a urologist, who, if needed, would then conduct a prostate biopsy to rule out or confirm the diagnosis. If the PSA is normal, the date of the next check-up will be determined by the general physician, based on the PSA results.

Experts emphasize that patients undergoing blood testing and prostate biopsy do not need to pay or buy any measures or medicines – everything should be provided by the medical facility. The service, provided to the patient, is covered by the health insurance funds.

The prostate cancer early diagnosis programme has been running in Lithuania since 2006 for seventeen years. All of these years have shown positive changes with more cases of detected early-stage prostate cancer and fewer cases of cancer that have been neglected. The funding, allocated from the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund for this programme every year, keeps increasing too – from 2 million Eur last year to 2.6 million Eur this year.

The health insurance funds are kindly reminding that although this preventive programme targets a certain age-group, anyone feeling unwell should contact their general practitioner. The general physician will conduct the necessary examinations and, if needed, issue a referral to a specialist physician.

(Piktochart pict.)

Information of Šiauliai Territorial Health Insurance Fund

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: 16-01-2023

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