At the turn of August and September, the draft of the National Program for Combating Cancer Diseases for 2016-2025 will be sent to the Council of Ministers – Deputy Minister of Health Beata Małecka-Libera announced on Thursday.
Małecka-Libera informed about it at a meeting of the parliamentary health committee, where she presented reports on the implementation of the program in 2014.
As she added, the program, like the previous one, ending this year, will be adopted in the form of a resolution of the Council of Ministers.
Among the main objectives of the new program, she indicated the improvement of the detection of neoplastic diseases at an early stage of their development and the reduction of regional differences in access to diagnostics and treatment. She noted that the second goal is also the goal of the National Health Program for 2016-2020.
In her opinion, the current program, although not fully satisfactory, brought tangible benefits. She indicated that, for example, the percentage of people reporting for preventive examinations increased from 12 percent. in 2006 to 44 percent. in 2014. In the case of mammography, the reporting rate increased from 23 percent. up to 47 percent
She added that in 2014, 35,2 thous. colonoscopy to detect colorectal cancer, and the five-year survival rate for this disease increased from 26%. in 2003 to 43 percent. in the years 2009-2010. She emphasized that this is one of the highest increases of this indicator in Europe.
Małecka-Libera also talked about the investment outlays under the program – in 2014, among others, 7 magnetic resonance imaging devices and 27 computer tomographs. In turn, in 2013, radiotherapy facilities were equipped with 11 accelerators. Their number increased from 70 in 2005 to 134 in 2013. The number of irradiated patients increased from 40. in 1999 to 82 thousand in 2013.
During the meeting, the oncology package was also discussed. Deputy Minister of Health, Piotr Warczyński, informed that so far, nearly 145 oncological diagnostics and treatment cards (DiLO), entitling to perform quick diagnostic tests, have been granted. patients. Most cards were issued in primary health care facilities – over 30 percent.
Over 40 percent patients with the card have already started treatment, and in the case of 12 percent. deciding about the form of treatment took place. Approx. 6 percent patients with the card completed the initial diagnostics, and another 4 percent. – in-depth. Over 10 percent tabs have already been closed.
Warczyński also informed about planned changes to the package. Among other things, the composition of consoles is to be made more flexible in the case of some diagnoses, and the package itself will cover other disease entities (including polycythemia vera and some diseases of the lymphatic tissue). There will also be a possibility of financing positron emission tomography (PET) in addition to the flat rate. Additionally, if the test is performed within seven weeks, the rate will be 20% higher. Other of the planned changes are to concern, inter alia, billing unlimited palliative radiotherapy.
The slow pace of introducing changes to the package was criticized by opposition MPs. The chairman of the committee, Tomasz Latos (PiS), assessed that some of them could become effective after the first quarter of this year. He pointed out to the representatives of the ministry that they were announced in March.
The chairman of the Polish Oncological Society, prof. Jacek Fijuth, who assessed that the oncology package is a divine act that only solves some of the issues related to oncological treatment in Poland. In his opinion, without a broader strategy based on demographic and epidemiological data, it will not be possible to improve the rates of cancer detection and effective treatment.
He considered the changes to be made to the package cosmetic. The fundamental bugs that cause all the difficulties we face, that is, incompatibility between different programs, disabling certain diagnoses, certain procedures – all this has not been addressed today – he said.
According to Fijuth, the main objection to the package is that it divides patients into two categories. Patients undergoing diagnostics, before starting treatment, are privileged, while the package regulations do not apply to patients who are to undergo follow-up examinations during follow-up after the completion of oncological treatment – he said.
As he added, the result is longer waiting for diagnostic tests. In some cases it is several months. This is a crazy disproportion in the same group of cancer patients – he said.
The oncology package was introduced earlier this year to shorten the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors. For this purpose, i.a. a DiLO card is issued to patients. Patients who have it are enrolled in a separate, faster queue, e.g. for diagnostics, so that they do not wait in line with non-oncological patients.
The package is critical of, among others, The Supreme Medical Council, which in mid-April submitted an application to the Constitutional Tribunal to review the constitutionality of some of its solutions.