Sinopoli Alessandra, Baccolini Valentina, Di Rosa Enrico
Department of Prevention, Local Health Authority Roma 1, 00193 Rome, Italy.
Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", 00133 Rome, Italy.
Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Feb 23;11(3):523. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11030523.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected health services worldwide. The suspension of cancer screening programs during the lockdown period, coupled with the other measures taken to limit the SARS-CoV-2 spread, contributed to the idea that cancer preventive interventions are deferrable. In this opinion paper, we present some data on cancer screening coverage in one of the largest Local Health Authorities in Italy in recent years. Within this context, we introduce the benefits of a pilot project in which we took advantage of the great attention on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign to improve screening uptake. In this project, we offered men and women eligible for cancer screening the opportunity to book appointments while waiting to be vaccinated. In addition, trained healthcare personnel were available on-site to discuss any barriers to participation with the attendees. Despite the project having only just started, preliminary results are encouraging, with positive feedback from the attendees. In conclusion, we advocate for the need to adopt a comprehensive approach when it comes to population health, and we use this project as an example to discuss how it is possible to contribute to minimizing the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with resources already in place.
新冠疫情已对全球医疗服务产生影响。封锁期间癌症筛查项目的暂停，再加上为限制新冠病毒传播而采取的其他措施，让人觉得癌症预防干预措施可以推迟。在这篇观点论文中，我们展示了近年来意大利最大的地方卫生当局之一的癌症筛查覆盖率的一些数据。在此背景下，我们介绍了一个试点项目的益处，在该项目中我们利用了对新冠疫苗接种运动的高度关注来提高筛查参与率。在这个项目中，我们为符合癌症筛查条件的男性和女性提供了在等待接种疫苗时预约的机会。此外，现场有经过培训的医护人员与参与者讨论参与筛查的任何障碍。尽管该项目才刚刚启动，但初步结果令人鼓舞，参与者反馈积极。总之，我们主张在人口健康方面需要采取全面的方法，并且我们以这个项目为例来讨论如何利用现有资源尽可能减少新冠疫情的长期影响。
