Also in Basilicata the work of the new Permanent Oncology Table is about to start, made up of representatives of clinicians, the elderly and regional institutions. The goal is to work together to create a Regional Oncological Network as recently approved by the Lucanian institutions. The decision was made yesterday during an online meeting organized by the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM), Senior Italia FederAnziani and local institutions.
The proposal came during the seventh stage of the tour that will bring AIOM and FederAnziani to meet all the regional health councilors of our country. “Through an open and constructive discussion with specialists we want to finally arrive at the creation of a health facility that has been talked about for at least two decades”, says Dr. Ernesto Esposito, Director of the Department of Human Affairs in the Basilicata region. “Our priority must be to be able to stop the passive sanitary migration that still pushes too many Lucanians to go to other areas of the Peninsula to receive anti-cancer treatments. The Oncological Network can represent a barrier to this trend as it has already happened in other regions of the South ”.
“Ours is one of the most sparsely populated areas of Italy and is composed almost exclusively of small towns”, adds Domenico Bilancia, Regional Coordinator AIOM Basilicata. “An efficient and well-organized network can represent a guarantee of uniformity of the services offered in the various territories. Considering the morphology of the Region, home care is even more fundamental. We must then restart cancer prevention and screening programs that have been abruptly interrupted by the pandemic. We are far behind in the recovery of tests for the early detection of colorectal cancer while we have recorded better results in breast cancer. In order to respond with adequate means to all these challenges, it is absolutely necessary to activate the Oncology Network in Lucania ”.
“As AIOM we are conducting a tour throughout Italy to solicit the creation or implementation of Regional Networks”, underlines Giordano Beretta, AIOM National President. “Every day in our country about 500 people die from cancer and it is currently , the same number of deaths caused by Covid-19. The pandemic emergency will sooner or later end while the one linked to tumors will continue. We therefore want to sensitize local institutions to reorganize care for cancer patients. The Networks allow undoubted advantages above all in the management of available resources, in improving the integration between hospital and territory and in favoring diagnostic-therapeutic appropriateness “.
“The time has come to put the patient back at the center of the regional health systems”, concludes Roberto Messina, National President of Senior Italia FederAnziani. “The Regional Oncological Networks allow each patient to receive the best care in the health facilities closest to home. In this sense, the use of new technologies and telemedicine is also fundamental, which have been demonstrating all their importance since the beginning of the pandemic ”.
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