The launch of the project, which Croatia was awarded in collaboration with the European Commission, was formally marked on Friday at the Ministry of Health. The project will be implemented by the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) in cooperation with experts from Lithuania and Slovenia.
"In partnership with Lithuania and Slovenia, we will exchange experience and knowledge that will eventually impact the quality of the programmes. We cannot be satisfied with the response so far, and treatment outcomes are unsatisfactory and can only encourage us to do all we can," Deputy Health Minister Ivan Bekavac said.
"The response to preventive examinations for breast cancer is barely 50%, in the case of cervical cancer it is a little higher, and in the case of colon cancer it is below 30%, which is highly unsatisfactory. When people don't have symptoms they don't show up for examinations, and when they do have symptoms, in most cases unfortunately it's too late. The methods used so far have produced minimum results, so it is necessary to improve the programmes this year and the next," HZJZ acting director Ranko Stevanovic said.
The aim of the campaign is to increase the response to 80-90% and to reach people who fail to show up for examinations through contacts with community nurses and family doctors.
The project will last 12 months and its budget is 641,500 euros from IPA funds intended for Croatia.