The President of the Association of Centers for Comprehensive Responsibility (CRI) denounced this Saturday that the government allowed a European funding line that allowed progress in lung cancer screening to close in 2023, highlighting the importance of prevention.
“We learned about this at a meeting that the association held at the request of the lung cancer screening association,” Joao Varandas Fernandez told Lusa.
The expert recalled that in this case, “the selfless work of a group of specialists is taking place, in most cases on a voluntary basis, and there are no consequences.”
Minister Manuel Pizarro announced in December 2022 the expansion of the cancer screening program to include lung, prostate and stomach cancer, noting that they would begin in 2023 with pilot projects. However, in the end this did not happen.
Last November, expansion of cancer screening programs to include lung, prostate and stomach cancer was included in the government budget 2024 (OE2024).
In this regard, emphasizing that “these lines of European funding cannot be wasted,” Varandas Fernandez insisted that “in early cancer prevention, the earlier the better, and any investment in this area will be less costly in the future.”
“Ministry [da Saúde] We have to cut bureaucracy,” said the man in charge, who insists on the need for more careful planning in the health sector.