Croatia second in EU for cancer mortality

(Patria) - Croatia ranks second in the European Union for cancer mortality.

The incidence of cancer, which has so far been at the European Union average, is higher compared to previous years, it was stated at yesterday's meeting "Together Against Cancer" held in Zagreb.

- Every year in Croatia, almost 14,000 people die from malignant diseases. We are second worst in mortality in the European Union, we are recording an increase in cancer cases, and we are investing almost nothing in prevention and public awareness.

Our national screening programs are not functioning - the one for cervical cancer doesn't even exist, and the screening for colorectal cancer has a catastrophically low turnout - warned the organizer of the meeting and Vice-President of the Committee on Environment, Food Safety and Rural Affairs in the European Parliament Romana Jerković Kraljić.

According to the report on the state of cancer in Croatia, which is prepared annually by the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, four preventable types of cancer (prostate, breast, colorectal, lung) account for more than 55 percent of all cases in Croatia.

- We are among the worst in Europe in terms of obesity and smoking, and by reducing smoking alone, we could prevent more than 22,000 new cancer cases by 2050 - said Jerković Kraljić.

According to her, air pollution in Croatia is even higher than in the rest of the EU.

- We are also noticing huge inequalities in oncological care, both between counties and between groups of lower and higher socioeconomic status. Regional differences in cancer incidence reach 30 percent - warned Jerković Kraljić.

Professor Vesna Ramljak said that the results, despite the efforts of many, are not what we would like. She also said that when patients finally get their diagnosis, they wait too long for treatment itself.

- Numerous radiation machines have been purchased, and you are yourselves witnesses to our machines that are out of order and not working. Breast cancer patients sometimes wait too long to start radiation therapy, especially patients with head and neck cancers, where radiation therapy must be carried out as soon as possible - said Ramljak.

She assessed that the situation is not coordinated and that things are not being done as they should be if one wants to achieve results like in the European Union. She also said that sick people need much more money than healthy people.

- It is almost never just about the patient, but the family and friends are also involved in their illness, and they all suffer together - emphasizes Ramljak.

Stjepko Pleština, head of the Department of Digestive Organ Tumors at KBC Zagreb, said that prevention should be discussed, but that even if everyone stopped smoking and started running today, it would take 10 years to see the effects at an epidemiological level.

He states that what distinguishes Croatia from the countries it likes to compare itself with is the fact that it detects tumors in an advanced stage.

He said that the issue of radiotherapy will be resolved and that Croatia can thank EU funds because otherwise its National Plan for Combating Cancer would be "a list of good wishes on paper".

- Funding for radiotherapy has been secured, 21 new linear accelerators, four brachytherapy sets, I think nine CT simulators and all accompanying equipment, which is approximately 85 million euros - said Pleština.

He added that progress does exist and that, along with the increase in the incidence of the disease, mortality is falling, and that this is a significant turnaround.

Ljiljana Vukota, Secretary General of the association SVE za NJU (Everything for Her), said that the fact that cancer is already the leading cause of death in the working-age population up to the age of 65 is disturbing, and that for patients and those being treated, in addition to improving the healthcare system, changes to the Labor Law are also needed.

- Today, patients who want to work actually do not have that opportunity. There is no quality adaptation in the world of work, and we are practically forcing them to stay on sick leave - emphasized Vukota.