"This is not money for cardiology or oncology, but for health." Common demands for prevention

• The Polish Cardiac Society and the Polish Oncological Society presented joint postulates in the field of prevention
• As experts emphasize, circulatory system diseases and cancer are the two main causes of death in Poland
• Meanwhile, thanks to prevention and limiting risk factors, many diseases can be prevented
• PTO and PTK jointly prepared 5 postulates in the field of prevention
• They emphasize that the effects of such actions would be noticeable in 10 years.

The Polish Cardiac Society and the Polish Oncological Society have jointly prepared postulates in the field of prevention. As experts emphasize, the main causes of death in Poland are circulatory system diseases and cancers, which is why we need to focus on prevention in this area to limit the number of cases.

Prof. Piotr Rutkowski, president of the PTO, emphasized during the conference on Wednesday, where the postulates were presented, that these are diseases "where together we can do a lot to not die from them, because it is possible not to get sick from them."

He cited data that indicate 180,000 new cancer cases per year and 90,000 deaths due to this cause, which constitutes 24% of all deaths in Poland.

Meanwhile, as he said, the costs of cancer treatment amount to PLN 33 billion per year.

- So prevention pays off a lot - he argued.

Also, Prof. Robert Gil, president of PTK, indicated circulatory system diseases as the second leading cause of death in Poles. As he said, there are at least 1.5 million patients with heart failure in Poland, about 80 thousand heart attacks per year, and another 70 thousand are patients with recent stroke. 180 thousand deaths per year are attributed to CHK, which is 37 percent of all deaths in Poland. The economic costs of treating circulatory system diseases amount to PLN 56 billion per year.

Hence the joint initiative to deal with primary prevention in order to best avoid getting sick, and in case of illness, to cure the patient as quickly and effectively as possible so that he can return to social and professional life.

- Everyone will soon understand that we cannot talk separately about prevention for these two diseases, because they overlap - emphasized Prof. Rutkowski.

- For years, cardiology and oncology have been competing. This has to stop. Because it's playing us off. We're not doing this for ourselves, but for the patient - argued Prof. Robert Gil. According to him, two strong associations supported by patient associations are able to influence systemic changes.

The common demands of PTK and PTO are:

• Prevention pays off
• School of healthy habits
• Health calendar on your phone
• A smoke-free generation
• Stop the obesity epidemic

Prevention pays off

Experts postulate increasing spending on health prevention from 1.9% of the health budget to the EU average, i.e. 5.5%, because every zloty spent on prevention means millions saved on treatment.

School of healthy habits

Experts are calling for the widespread introduction of health education - primarily cancer and cardiology prevention classes - in primary and secondary schools. It also involves training for teachers and educators in conducting classes on health prevention and first aid, as well as support for local governments and schools in organizing classes and events promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Health calendar on your phone

The idea is to use the Online Patient Account to actively remind citizens from risk groups about preventive examinations.

A smoke-free generation

Experts want an effective implementation of the anti-smoking strategy in Poland, in particular eliminating the use of e-cigarettes by young people. As experts said, e-cigarettes are used by every fourth high school student. Hence the postulate to introduce a total ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to people under 18 and effective enforcement of the ban, introducing a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes online without age verification, regulating the marketing market of new generation nicotine products (ban on flavor additives, standardized packaging). It is also about co-financing anti-smoking clinics.

Stop the obesity epidemic

Effective combating of obesity means prevention of chronic diseases, reduction of treatment costs and improvement of quality of life - PKO and PTK convince. Hence the postulate to reactivate and extend the KOS-BAR program, including reimbursement of dietary, psychological and pharmacotherapy advice for obesity, support of healthy food through subsidies and tax reliefs, mandatory markings (Nutri-Score) informing about the composition of products.

As Prof. Robert Gil emphasized, "cardiology and oncology must speak with one voice."

- This is the moment to shift some of the money from treatment to prevention. It has to be systemic - said Prof. Gil. In turn, Prof. Rutkowski pointed out that "this is not money for cardiology or oncology, but money for our health".

Experts estimate that rapid implementation of the proposed actions would bring results within 10 years.

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