Prevention means a chance for life: World Cancer Day delivers a clear message
World Cancer Day takes place annually on February 4th and aims to raise awareness about this disease. It serves as a reminder of the importance of prevention and helps clarify potential uncertainties for people. Its most important purpose is the effort to significantly reduce the number of patients and prevent unnecessary deaths. The event is held globally and reminds us that health is not merely a matter of medical treatment, but there's much more to it.
The European Health Commission states that up to 40% of cancer cases can be prevented. An effective prevention strategy can either prevent the disease or detect it at a better time, when the prospects for recovery are more hopeful. This leads to less suffering and in the best case, even to saving lives. The numbers speak very clearly.
Prevention is a very important factor and should not be overlooked. According to estimates, more than 12,000,000 people in Europe have overcome various cancer diseases. Patients have been helped by early detection, effective treatment, and supportive care. With this insidious disease, it is often about very precious time, and this day tries to remind us of that.
Prevention is Important
The National Screening Centre of ÚZIS has launched a campaign called Show Cancer Your Back. Its goal is to demonstrate that prevention doesn't have to be frightening, but instead gives us the opportunity to take control of our own lives.
"Prevention is not about fear, but about personal responsibility and strength. Early examination, as shown by my personal example, can save a life, and it's a step that each of us can manage. We want to show people that facing their own health head-on is the best investment for the future,"
says former Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek and current member of parliament for (TOP 09).
The campaign aims to address the relatively low participation in preventive oncological screening programs. Surveys by Ipsos for the Institute of Health Information and Statistics show that up to one-third of Czechs have concerns or fears about these programs. The Czech healthcare system offers a very wide range of preventive programs that are accessible, gentle, and fully covered by public health insurance.
"These programs are regularly evaluated and ways to improve them as much as possible are sought. However, without sufficient participation from clients, they cannot fulfill their purpose,"
adds Ladislav Dušek, director of ÚZIS, for the Ministry of Health.
Thanks to regular screening examinations, there is a chance to catch the disease in a still non-malignant stage. Screenings are completely free and can detect malignant tumors in breast cancer, cervical cancer, prostate, colon, rectum, and lungs.
Time Means Opportunities
Lung cancer is a very insidious disease in terms of its symptoms. Very often, the period during which the disease does not manifest at all is very long, and patients thus visit the doctor at a stage when the disease can no longer be effectively cured. On average, according to results from 2019-2023, about 6,600 cases of the disease are diagnosed annually in the Czech Republic. More than 5,000 patients succumb to the disease due to a lack of time.
“For lung cancer, every month counts. Early detection fundamentally changes the patient's prognosis because we can identify tumors when they are not yet causing any problems and start treatment with a real chance of complete recovery,”
says Martina Koziar Vašáková, who is the chair of the committee for the early detection program of lung cancer.
At the latest October commission meeting, combined screenings were also discussed.
"The aim of this agenda item was to ensure that individuals are informed about smoking cessation options when participating in any screening program. Following this, the Commission was informed of the intention to offer women who smoke participation in lung cancer screening as part of mammographic screening."
Currently, all websites containing screening programs have published information about the options for treating tobacco dependence and its products.
Sources: author text, nzip.cz, commision.europa.eu, mzcr.cz,
