“Prevention is key. Adhere to screenings, get checked, follow your doctor’s directions. Let’s try to be good to each other. Let’s not say then I’ll do it, then I’ll see, let’s do it now”.
It is the invitation that Amadeus addressed during the talk show from Casa Sanremo, promoted by the Ministry of Health and conducted by Marco Liorni, on cancer prevention.
The artistic director of the Sanremo Festival spoke alongside the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci to launch the new campaign “The priority is you” for the promotion of healthy and correct lifestyles and free oncological screenings of the National Health Service.
“Italy is one of the longest-lived countries in the world – said the Minister – but to the years we must add quality of life by doing prevention. During 2020 we lost over 2 and a half million screenings, not carried out, and this is a risk condition because it did not allow us to identify some early stage cancers. Even if we have returned to pre-pandemic compliance rates, over half of the invitations to participate in the three free screenings offered by the National Health Service remain without registrations. We must commit ourselves to this – urged the Minister – and the message must be clear to give even in an important venue like this with millions of people following the Festival: screening must be done because it helps to avoid the disease and its consequences” .
They have attended the talk showopened with the institutional greetings of the Mayor of Sanremo Alberto Biancherithe oncologist surgeon Julia Veronesithe director Day Time Rai Simona Hallthe Olympic champion Sara Simeoni and model and TV host Samantha DeGrenet, who bore his testimony. Singers also took part Dolcenera and Pierdavide Carone.
Veronesi underlined “the need to bring screening for the early diagnosis of lung cancer to a large scale in subjects at risk due to exposure to smoke and age. Lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women and has overtaken breast cancer in Europe.”
In this regard, Minister Schillaci recalled how “this issue was addressed at the meeting of European health ministers last December in Brussels. There are strong recommendations, not only for lung cancer screening, but also for stomach and prostate. Prevention is central to the National Oncology Plan, which we recently approved and for which we have allocated 50 million from 2023 to 2027, I believe that lung screening can find its rightful place in the Plan”.
Watch the video of the Casa Sanremo Talk Show hosted by Marco Liorni
Read more and download the infographics and campaign brochure