The data available for the waiting lists for the two important tests capable of diagnosing often fatal tumors in time
The Italian health service has been facing a period of difficulty for some years now, with more or less complex situations depending on the regional territories. The lack of resources allocated to public health, as underlined by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, can lead to very serious consequences, starting with the lack of services and the inaccessibility of care to the most economically or socially disadvantaged groups of patients.
One of the main problems is linked to excessively long waits to book tests and checks which can prove to be life-saving and which, according to Istat data, has led 4.5 million Italians to give up treatment in 2023, a number which is continuously increasing compared to previous years. How long do you have to wait in Italy for a colonoscopy or mammogram?
Waiting times in Italy for a Colonoscopy
Colonoscopy is a fundamental test for identifying oncological pathologies of the colon, currently the second cause of death from cancer in Italy, and for diagnosing chronic inflammatory diseases, diverticula and polyps in the colon and rectum. An important test not only when worrying symptoms develop but also required for preventive purposes. How long do you have to wait to book a colonoscopy in Italy?
This was revealed to beraking latest news by the national secretary of the Italian Association of Hospital Gastroenterologists and Digestive Endoscopists (Aigo), Francesco Neri Bortoluzzi, according to whom compliance with the priority times for this exam depending on the level of urgency reaches a maximum of 60%: “Priority B (within 10 days of the request) is respected in 60% of the Regions (Veneto, Lombardy, E.Romagna, and Tuscany), but if we go to medium priority (within 60 days) we fall below 50% (Lazio, Piedmont, and Marche). While in the South (Campania, Calabria, and Sicily) we are in worse shape and the expectations are significant: even up to a year.”
Waiting times in Italy for a Mammogram
The situation is not very different when it comes to booking a mammogram, the screening test that allows early diagnosis of breast cancer, one of the few cancers for which it is possible to make an early diagnosis together with colon cancer. The data relating to last year is provided by the 2023 report by Cittadinanzattiva, according to which in Italy it takes “two years for a screening mammogram, three months for an operation for uterine cancer which had to be carried out within a month and two months for an urgent gynecological specialist visit to be scheduled within 72 hours”.
In detail, based on reports from citizens collected by the non-profit organization which has been dealing with relations between public authorities and citizens for over 40 years, 150 days have been reported for a mammogram, with a short category B class (to be carried out within 10 days), and 730 days again for a mammogram but with a P category class (programmable), 365 days for a gastroscopy with biopsy in case of an undetermined class.
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