We commemorate the World Cancer Day every year on 4 February since 2000 and it is a unifying global day or initiative in which the world is united to make the fight against cancer a positive visibility. This day, according to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), aims to save millions of lives each year by raising awareness of this disease while calling on governments and individuals worldwide to act.
This year's campaign has its name Close the Care Gap, that means Remove differences in careand highlights the significant inequalities that persist worldwide in the availability and access to basic oncology health services. The call for their elimination is in the report on equality.
It is the Union that provides nine general recommendations to governments countries around the world to bridge gaps in cancer care. These include, for example: promoting patient-centred care, increasing cancer research funding and promoting cooperation between research and healthcare providers, establishing a cancer population register to guide policy decisions and allocating financial resources, improving health literacy, education and effective communication on cancer, regulating the production, sale and marketing of carcinogenic products, including through increased taxation, and others.
The Slovak Republic joins the World Cancer Day through the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health has declared its efforts to combat cancer as one of its most important priorities. Therefore supports OnkoControl, that is, regular free screening tests for cervical cancer, breast cancer, colon and rectum cancer, and prepares screening for lung and prostate cancer. This way too, we call on the people concerned by OnkoControl to undergo it regularly: it can rule out the disease or allow the capture at an early stage where it is treatable and curable. All important information about these examinations will be found by citizens on the web:www.oncocontrol.sk.
The amendment to Act No. 363/2011 Coll. brings more and more innovative medicines into the categorization for the treatment of oncological diseases, as well as the treatment becomes more accessible and thus more effective.
The European Commission presented a proposal for an EU Council recommendation on cancer prevention before the World Cancer Day to reduce the incidence of cancer associated with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection and hepatitis B virus (HBV) by supporting EU Member States in increasing vaccination coverage.
The European Commission is supporting Member States in the fight against cancer through the EU4Health programme (2021 - 2027), which provides financial and technical support to them, thereby helping efforts to strengthen health systems. Slovakia is supported under the PERCH project – to support anti-HPV vaccination and will be involved in EUCanScreen project - to improve the implementation of screening programmes.
In the fight against cancer, we have strong weapons, and let us not hesitate to use them for our health and life!
Further information and charts on cancer diseases, medicines and activities of the Ministry of Health:
2024-01-28-epidemiological-right-world-of-the-world-against-cancer. pdf (noisk.sk)
https://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/view/en/VBD EN WIN2/om3801mr/v om3801mr 00 00 00 en
https://www.health.gov.sk/Clanok?forum-onkologia-experts
https://www.health.gov.sk/Clanok?docking-hpv-cancer
https://www.health.gov.sk/Clanok?campan-oncocontrol-start
https://www.health.gov.sk/Clanok?new-drugs-non-registered-authorisation
https://www.health.gov.sk/Clanok?mz-patients-oncological-preventive-surveillances