A good adherence to the screening campaign for colorectal cancer also passes through pharmacies. What is a project currently active in nine Italian regions confirms its premises. Being able to collect and deliver to their trusted pharmacist the kit for the examination of occult blood in the feces, men and women are more inclined to join the initiatives for the early diagnosis of what is the second most frequent oncological disease. This is the message that emerges from a study conducted in the province of Barcelona – where a similar program involving pharmacies is active – and published in Preventive Medicine.
Colon cancer screening: involving pharmacies works
The authors went to evaluate the participation of pharmacies in the program and the share of people who return the distributed kits. In both cases, the results were very satisfying. 82.4 percent of the pharmacies scattered throughout the territory have in fact distributed kits for the detection of occult blood in feces to their customers. And of these, 93.5 percent (out of a total of 77,524 kits distributed) returned them for analysis using immunochemical methods (search for occult blood in the faeces). In the Catalan capital, the collaboration provides for the involvement of the Order of Pharmacists, a fee of one euro for each kit delivered, an information system for monitoring the activity of pharmacies and formalized training with minimum requirements for participation in the program. Among the elements characterizing this experience, the provision of training packages aimed at pharmacists on issues related to colon cancer and the organizational methods of the screening program.
Colorectal cancer: Red meat also puts young people at risk
by Tiziana Moriconi
Experience also in progress in nine Italian regions
A similar initiative is currently active in nine Italian regions. The collected samples – in Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Lazio, Umbria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily – are sent to the ASL to be analyzed. And, in the event of a diagnostic suspicion, the competent ASL will call the patient back for further investigations. Despite this, there are still differences on a regional basis. In Piedmont, for example, pharmacies detect additional indicators (number of contacts, counseling initiatives and screening archive) to measure the impact of collaboration in terms of citizens’ adherence to the program. Lombardy, on the other hand, paid particular attention to the quality control aspects of the process, introducing the tracking of the test tube on delivery and return to the pharmacy. Other Regions have introduced reward mechanisms in their agreements that increase the remuneration of the test tube according to the increase in adherence to the screening program, which should be achieved through the active involvement of the pharmacist. According to the experts of the National Screening Observatory, “entrusting pharmacies with not only an organizational but also a counseling function could have a positive impact on overcoming communication and cultural barriers in joining. This would be favored by the widespread diffusion of pharmacies throughout the territory,” even in areas where there are fewer services, and by the mediating role between citizens and the public health services they already perform “.
Cancer, more than 2.5 million screenings skipped due to Covid
by Tiziana Moriconi
The impact of the pandemic
At this stage, information of this type is particularly valuable. As has been repeated many times, in fact, oncological screenings are among the services most penalized by the block imposed by the long months of health emergency due to Covid-19. According to the National Screening Observatory, the stop imposed by the pandemic and the restart in fits and starts could have led to the delay of 1,300 diagnoses of colorectal cancer and over 7,400 advanced adenomas (which over time may evolve into an oncological diagnosis). Numbers that are worrying, also because the starting point was not the best. Based on the data collected by the Passi surveillance system, it is estimated that in Italy (between 2016 and 2018) only 47 percent of people interviewed in the 50-69 age group carried out a preventive examination for early diagnosis of colon cancers (search for occult blood within the past two years or colonoscopy within the past five years). Less than 1 in 2, on average. But with a strong geographical gradient: it goes from 67 per cent recorded in the Northern regions to 26 per cent in those of the South. Too little to claim that it has done its utmost in early colorectal cancer detection.
Cancer, more than 2.5 million screenings skipped due to Covid
by Tiziana Moriconi
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