The Committee on Health, Labor and Social Welfare has not yet scheduled or is known to schedule a session to discuss the report of the State Audit Institution (DRI), which showed that the National Program for Early Detection of Breast Cancer from 2016 to 2020. led unsuccessfully.
The president of that parliamentary body Srđan Pavićević he did not respond to the call and messages of "Vijesti" regarding the possible date of the meeting.
The Health, Labor and Social Care Committee should give its opinion on all matters in these areas.
On the other hand, the Committee for Gender Equality will hold a session on that topic today. Apart from the parent board for health, neither the competent Ministry of Health nor the Institute for Public Health announced anything about the SAI report.
A new national program is needed
Member of the Senate of the SAI Branislav Radulović he recently told "Vijesti" that the supreme state audit has assessed that a new national program should be created that would be implemented on the entire territory of Montenegro, since the existing one was implemented only on the territory of four municipalities.
Radulović then confirmed that he and the members of his review team will respond to the invitation of the Committee for Gender Equality, in order to present the findings and recommendations of the report in more detail.
On September 27, DRI published a report, in which it was concluded that the National Program for Early Detection of Breast Cancer was implemented unsuccessfully in the period from January 2016 to January 2020.
Radulović told "Vijesta" that the implementation of screening began at the end of 2015, in four municipalities - Podgorica, Danilovgrad, Kolašin and Cetinje.
"From the mentioned fact, it follows that the National Early Detection Program was not 'national' because it was not implemented on the entire territory of Montenegro. One of the main perceived shortcomings of the National Program is the absence of the adoption of the necessary legal regulations, which would ensure the success of its implementation (shifts, regulations, procedures...). For the successful implementation of each program, including screening, a clearly defined responsibility of all participants in each phase is necessary, as well as their high-quality cooperation", said Radulović.
According to him, based on the available data, there is a risk that the people invited to the screening were mainly presented with only the positive aspects of the screening "while ignoring any negative side, in order to increase the response rate and ensure the success of early detection of breast cancer".
"Based on the responses of the competent institutions - the Ministry of Health and the IJZ, the feasibility study of the program for the early detection of breast cancer was not conducted. "A coordinating body for the organization, professional monitoring and quality control of the mammographic skinning program was not formed in the period from 2016 to 2020," Radulović points out.
He also states that in the document "Calculation of costs for breast cancer screening on digital mammography for 2018." it was stated that three x-ray technicians, who were educated in Slovenia, do not work on screening mammography, because they opted out on their own, so the function is performed by personnel with secondary education of a different profile or insufficiently trained for that job.
"Based on the oral report of the supervisor from Slovenia, the work of the x-ray technician was assessed as poor quality. Limited personnel capacity (one employee), as well as spatial capacity (one office), had an impact on the fact that the first report on morbidity and mortality from malignant neoplasms for the calendar year 2013 will not be published until 2018," Radulović points out.
He warns that at the time of the adoption and initiation of the National Program, there was no elaborate registry for cancer.
According to him, during the implementation, it was not ensured that 70 percent of the population group would be invited to the breast screening program, although the program defined as a goal that at least 70 percent of women aged 40 to 69 would be included in this program: "That percentage varies at the level of 40 percent, which is significantly below the planned limit".
In October, additional and cheaper reviews, flyers...
October is celebrated around the world as breast cancer awareness month.
The non-governmental organization "Brini o sebi" prepared a campaign this year, for the eighth time, under the slogan "Go to control". The campaign is held in partnership with the Institute of Oncology of the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG). Support for the implementation of the campaign was provided by private agencies, companies, clinics and surgeries. Private surgeries, 32 of them, throughout Montenegro provided preventive examinations under preferential conditions.
On Thursday, "Vijesti" asked the Ministry of Health and the Institute for Public Health about what advantages citizens can expect from this year's campaign, whether check-ups are possible without an appointment in public health institutions...
The IJZ announced, among other things, that this year it is planned to organize events in the community, to inform the population about this disease through social networks... They said that in cooperation with the Association of the Blind, they will record audio messages and print flyers in Braille that will contain important information about breast cancer prevention.
They said that the Podgorica Health Center will provide additional mammography examinations at the Old Airport for women aged 40 to 49 by the end of October.
The Ministry of Health announced that the minister will Dragoslav Šcekić, director of the Police Administration Zoran Brđanin and director of IJZ Igor Galić today at 13:XNUMX p.m. to support the distribution of educational flyers on the importance of preventing this disease, on Cetinjska road in Podgorica.
According to IJZ data, based on GLOBOCAN estimates, 2020 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in Montenegro in 378.
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