– Oncological treatment indicators are still not the best in Poland; The Ministry of Health is taking steps to improve them, admits Minister of Health Konstanty Radziwiłł. What needs to be changed in the current oncology package to finally improve the standards of cancer treatment? The condition of Polish oncology was discussed at the 85rd Warsaw Oncology Conference and the XNUMXth anniversary of the Radium Institute.
– The trends in the incidence and mortality due to malignant neoplasms observed in recent years are largely determined by demographic changes (…); it is very important how we can deal with it – both in the area of promotion and prevention, as well as detection and treatment – said the minister.
The Minister emphasized that the National Program for Combating Cancer Diseases has been implemented for years; its last edition covers the years 2016-2024. Mammographic and cytological tests are a very important element of the program, because a large group of women still avoid them. People with breast cancer will also be able to count on comprehensive care – soon -. The minister informed that the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariff System is already working on the appropriate program.
Radziwiłł also pointed out that the so-called oncology package. The package was introduced in early 2015 to shorten the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors. For this purpose, i.a. patients are issued with an oncological diagnosis and treatment card (DiLO). Patients with the DiLO card are enrolled in a separate, faster queue (e.g. for diagnostics) so that they do not wait together with non-oncological patients. What will change? The following will be modified, among others range of information stored in the DiLO card. For example, data on symptoms, diagnostic tests and assessment of the quality of diagnostics were abandoned. As a result, the document was shortened from nine pages to two.
According to the amendment, the DiLO card, in the case of suspicion of cancer, will also be issued by a specialist (currently specialists can only use it when the disease is diagnosed, and at the stage of suspicion – only primary care physicians). – The change introduces the possibility of issuing DiLO cards by the Ambulatory Specialist Care physician on the basis of suspicion, which makes it easier for patients to enter the package path – indicated the minister.
The cancer diagnosis rate for GPs will also disappear. It allowed the doctor to issue a certain number of cards. If he exceeded the limit, he would have to complete training in early cancer diagnosis to further expose DiLO. The resignation of this indicator is to eliminate the risk that some GPs would not be able to issue such a card to the patient.
The maps of health needs that define the needs and problems faced by a given finger turned out to be helpful in developing changes in the oncology package. On their basis, the rates of rehospitalisation within 30 days were tested. The analyzes showed large differences between individual regions and service providers. – It is no secret that the percentage of rehospitalisation was significantly higher among service providers who reported a small number of hospitalizations. This is an indication once again that oncology, like hardly any other field of medicine, needs to be concentrated, he assessed.
The NIPH-PZH report on the health situation of the Polish population published in February shows that in the years 2000-2009 there was no progress in the treatment of neoplastic diseases. Only some of them, including childhood cancers and leukemias, have improved.
The World Cancer Report forecasts that in 2025 the number of cancer cases will increase from 14,1 million to 19,3 million annually, and in 2035 – up to 24 million. The number of deaths worldwide has already exceeded 8,2 million annually. According to the National Cancer Registry, the number of cancer cases in Poland has more than doubled in the last three decades, reaching over 2010 in 140. cases. Currently, the annual number of cases in our country has exceeded 160 thousand.