Project name: Establishment and operation of the National screening centre
Brief description of the project
Disease prevention through organised screening programmes is one of the most effective public health tools to reduce morbidity and premature mortality. The country health profile 2023 points out that Slovakia has long been one of the countries with the highest mortality rates from preventable and treatable causes. It also points to significant scope for strengthening effective public health policies leading to a reduction in premature deaths.
Despite the existence of several screening initiatives in Slovakia, their contribution is limited by the low level of population participation, the lack of coordination between players and the absence of a uniform system for monitoring and evaluating results. The present project aims to increase the involvement of the population in organised screening programmes, to promote early diagnosis of major diseases and to make the use of health resources more efficient.
The project follows on from the ICCCS initiative funded by the European Commission. Experts from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2022 – 2024 carried out a series of working visits in Slovakia, attended meetings with representatives of key institutions and conducted expert consultations. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the situation, they prepared a set of recommendations which they presented to the Slovak side in January 2024. The recommendations identify eight priority areas requiring improvement: management and legislative framework; screening tests and diagnostic procedures; expert guidelines and protocols; organisational provision; funding and staffing capacity; invitation and communication system with participants; data infrastructure and IT systems; quality assurance, awareness-raising and support for research.
Project headline target
The main objective of the project is to contribute to the systematic improvement of screening services in Slovakia through the creation of a central coordination and management unit. The project aims at methodologically strengthening the management of pilot implementation of new screening programmes as well as effective implementation, ongoing monitoring and evaluation of already existing early disease detection programmes in Slovakia. A National screening centre (NSC) will be set up as part of the national project, with new staffing capacities and appropriate material and technical equipment. The Centre will provide activities resulting from an organised approach to screening in accordance with internationally recognised documents defining the competences and standards of screening centres.
The coordination and management unit will also act as a central body for assessing the quality of screening sites and the performance of individual screening programmes. The aim is to ensure transparent, data-based management and continuous improvement of the quality of the services provided. The project also includes improving the availability of screening programmes for disadvantaged and hard-to-reach population groups. This objective will be pursued through a combination of targeted strategies and tools that take into account the specificities of each target group and contribute to reducing health inequalities.
Project activities
- Activity 1: Establishment of a National screening centre
- Activity 2: Data collection and analysis for screening programmes
Expected results of the project
- Established and staffed National screening centre as coordination and management unit
- enhanced coordination of the implementation and evaluation of screening programmes;
- the established and implemented process of data collection, integration, validation and analysis (including calculation of indicators/KPIs) for screening programmes,
- Support for monitoring the quality of screening sites and the performance of screening programmes
- improving the availability of screenings also for disadvantaged and hard-to-reach population groups.
Target group
- employees in the field of education and training of potential health professionals
- Health care providers
- Citizens
Location of the project: Whole territory of the Slovak Republic
Accepted NFP amount: 6 206 213,08 €
Project identification
- NFP application code: NFP401305G560
- Call code: PSK-MZ-004-2025-NP-ESF+
- Programme: 401000 – Program Slovakia – SK – ERDF/CF/FST/ESF+
- Co-financing: The project is co-financed by the European Union.
- Start of main project activities: 1 January 2026
- Completion of main project activities: 31 December 2029