Filenews 29 July 2023 - by Marilena Panayi
The procedures of the Ministry of Health for the implementation of the population screening program for colorectal cancer are in the final stretch.
The start of the program, according to the timetable set by the Ministry of Health, is placed in the autumn and citizens aged 50 to 74 will be invited to participate every two years.
The procedure followed will differ from the standards currently followed in terms of the corresponding breast cancer screening program, since in this case citizens will be asked to complete the first stage of the examination themselves, which is sampling.
In particular, and following the standards of similar programs implemented for years in other countries, citizens over the age of 50 will receive an official invitation from the Ministry of Health. Along with the invitation, they will receive a special package in which they will be asked to place their faeces. Then, after placing the package in a special envelope, who will also be sent to them at the same time, should obtain a referral from their personal doctor for the specific analysis and go to one of the special boxes that will be installed in various parts of Cyprus to leave the sample. The boxes will be special and configured accordingly and the samples will be collected by the Ministry of Health (or its partners) and forwarded for the necessary analyses.
The result of the laboratory tests will be immediately recorded in the file of each citizen in the software of the General Health System and in this way the access of the beneficiary of the GHS and his doctor will be immediate.
According to calculations by the Ministry of Health, the number of citizens belonging to the age group of 50-74 years is around 100,000. The aim of the program is, of course, the early detection of colon cancer and the earliest possible start of treatment, in cases where malignancy is detected. In these cases and once the personal doctors of the GHS will have immediate access to the results, patients will receive instructions from their doctor for further action.
Along with the procedures related to the screening program for colorectal cancer, the Ministry of Health has recently promoted the procedures for the implementation of a corresponding program for prostate cancer.
Again, the invitation will be sent to men 50 years of age and older. The Ministry of Health is currently in consultation with all stakeholders in order to complete its planning for how the program will be conducted. The timetable for its implementation is set for December 2023.
In addition to these two programs, a cervical cancer screening program is in the works, which will include, in addition to the Pap test, other appropriate tests. The implementation of this programme is set for 2024. In this case too, the results will be recorded directly in the beneficiary's file in the GHS software.
It is recalled that a few days ago, the Ministry of Health announced the expansion of the population program for breast cancer, stressing that very soon it will be possible, in this case too, to register the results of mammograms that women 45-74 years old undergo in the GHS software.
