hrvatski

Gradska liga protiv raka Osijek 40 godina

In the world around 11 million people a year are affected by cancer and 7 million people die from it. The most frequently diagnosed type of cancer is lung cancer with 1, 350, 000 cases, breast cancer with 1, 150, 000 cases, and colorectal cancer with 1, 000, 000 cases. The most common causes of death are lung cancer with 1, 180, 000 cases per year and stomach cancer with 700, 000 cases. It is expected that in the year 2020 around fifteen million people in the world will be affected by cancer, about two thirds of them in highly developed and developing countries. Thanks to the early detection of cancer today, over 4, 400, 000 women are living with breast cancer, and on the whole more than twenty-five million people who have been diagnosed with cancer, are living with it. In Europe the number of new cases and cancer mortality rates are also rising. Every year around 2, 800, 000 people are affected by cancer, and sadly, around 1, 700, 000 people die from it. In Croatia, cancer is the second most frequent cause of death ; it kills almost one in four people. The number of new cases of cancer in Croatia grew from 11, 204 to 20, 714 during the period between 1976 and 2005. From 1976 to 2006 the number of deaths increased from 7, 544 to 12, 515 cases. In the County of Osijek-Baranja, the number of new cases of cancer grew from 1, 155 to 1, 418 between 1976 and 2005, and the number of deaths from 1983 to 2006 grew from 716 to 891. The most common locations of carcinoma for men in the County are bronchi and lungs, prostate, colorectum, stomach and bladder, and for Croatia they are bronchi and lungs, colorectum, prostate, bladder and stomach. For women in the County the most common locations are the breast, colorectum, bronchi and lungs, cervix, ovary and uterus, and for Croatia they are: breast, colorectum, bronchi and lungs, ovary, uterus, stomach, and cervix. Data on new cases and cancer mortality in the Osijek-Baranja County show that in our area, in addition to the intensive measures of primary carcinoma prevention, the emphasis should be put on early detection, not only of breast cancer and colorectal cancer for which National programs are already being conducted, but also for the early detection of cervical and prostate cancer, in other words for locations that indicate higher incidence and mortality than the Croatian average. As considerable progress can be made by prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer, in 1933 The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) was founded with the goal of widening the international cooperation in the exchange of knowledge about cancer control and stimulating a faster application of scientific achievements in the clinical practice, and helping health educational, professional, organizational and research activities on the prevention of cancer in the developing countries. Today the UICC has over 270 members in more than 80 countries on all continents, ranging from non-governmental associations against cancer, research centers and clinics to ministries of health in some countries. The International Union Against Cancer cooperates closely with the World Health Organization, national non-governmental organizations, governments and international organizations. The UICC claims that in addition to state institutions there is also a need for the local community to get involved in the prevention and early detection of cancer. In essence, individuals and families should also take responsibility for their own health, thus contributing to the development of the whole community. Special prominence is given to the development of national guidelines for the early detection of cancer and the treatment of cancer, as well as guidelines for national educational programs specially suited to the epidemiological, social and material circumstances of individual countries. Realizing the efforts of The International Union Against Cancer, the Croatian League Against Cancer was founded in Zagreb in 1966. For forty years now, it has been bringing together numerous civil volunteers, economists, health workers, professional and social institutions and civil associations in programs that support the activities of the health services in the protection of people from cancer, as well as in immediate solving of the oncologic problems of affected individuals. In that same year, the League Against Cancer was founded in Osijek. This organization is present today in Osijek as the City of Osijek League Against Cancer, and it began working as the League for the Fight against Cancer of the Socialist Federal Republic of Croatia, Municipal Committee Osijek. As a volunteer-association of citizens of Osijek and the Osijek region, it has been fighting cancer successfully since then. All relevant forces that can contribute to the realization of the tasks of the League are united in that fight. They all volunteer in different ways with noble humanitarian work for the well-being of the social community, but also for every individual whose life or the lives of their loved ones are constantly threatened by cancer. This kind of volunteer-work, complementing the professional efforts of the medical profession in progressive social systems, is well developed, highly esteemed and efficient. In many countries, time limits have been set for the implementation of measures for fighting cancer. For example, the American Cancer Society expects a decrease of 25% in the incidence of cancer in the US from 1992 to 2015, and the decrease of cancer mortality rate of up to 50%. At the same time, improvements in the quality of life (physical, mental and social) are expected for all cancer patients. In addition, a 12% decrease in the number of adult smokers and 10% of underage children is predicted. The coverage of women over 40 years of age should increase to 90% due to the early detection of breast cancer. By monitoring the flux of the total rate of cancer incidence in the US in the period from 1992 to 2004 a decrease 0.6% a year in the cancer incidence rate was observed. At the same time in the US there was a rise from 51% in the total 5-year survival rate in the period from 1975 until 1977 to 66% in the period from 1996 to 2002. For the period between 1992 and 1998, the statistics for the five-year survival rates for people with cancer discovered in its localized stage are as follows: 97% for all cases of breast cancer, 90% for all cases of colorectal cancer, 92% for all cases of cervical cancer, and 100% for prostate cancer. Although numerous factors that cause cancer are known (for example smoking, a diet excessively rich in fat with not enough vegetables and fibers, a diet with a lot of salted or smoked meat, or meat that has been conserved with nitrates, alcohol, life and work in an environment with high cancerogenic risks, not enough physical exercise) as well as the first symptoms of cancer themselves, and although in contrast to other developed countries, we have the contemporary diagnostic methods for the early detection of cancer at our disposal, in Croatia a relatively low 5-year survival rate is recorded. According to the data of the Croatian National Cancer Registry the total relative rate of 5-year survival (except for cases of skin cancer) in the period from 1994 until 1998 was 40% for men and 57% for women, 28% for stomach cancer, 49% for colorectal cancer, 65% for prostate cancer, 75% for breast cancer, and 74% for cervical cancer. The City of Osijek League Against Cancer believes that the fight against cancer should be approached comprehensively: a) by changing the unhealthy attitudes and bad habits of people ; b) by encouraging people to be more vigilant with their health and to be pro-active in ways that would encourage early detection ; c) by the re-socialization of affected people and by quality palliative care ; d) by training the workers in primary health care to give complete oncologic care ; e) by the acquisition of diagnostic equipment ; f) by compiling guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cancer ; with the ultimate goal of reducing the cancer mortality rate in the Osijek-Baranja County by 15% by the year 2015. The work program of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer is coordinated with the basic goals of the UICC, the Croatian League Against Cancer and the Croatian Oncologic Society as well as with the recommendations for the prevention and early detection of cancer by the Council of Europe. The main tasks are: health education and instruction of the population, familiarizing people with the risk factors for the development of cancer, the first symptoms of cancer, training people in self-protection and care for affected and terminal patients, help with the implementation of the early detection programs and training for health care workers and volunteers in giving oncologic protection, cooperation on professional and scientific research and providing the necessary medical equipment for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The prevention of cancer with schoolchildren and young people is integrated in the regular curriculum in primary schools as well as in the elective subjects of home economics and ecology, in remedial courses, extracurricular, and out-of-school activities. School medicine teams, patronage services, health workers and activists of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer participate in the prevention program by giving lectures and workshops on unhealthy nutrition and smoking hazards. Health educational activities and instructions for the adult population on the prevention of and the fight against cancer by the City of Osijek League Against Cancer are carried out through carefully planned and continuous lectures, through the publishing of numerous publications, audiovisual materials, and teacher’ s reference books to assist teaching about cancer in schools. During its forty-year work, the Osijek League has published several books, most notably The Problem of Cancer in Primary Health Care, Family and Health, Carbon Hydrates in Nutrition and Dietetics, and The Colorectal Cancer – the Experiences of the Osijek Protection Program, each printed in 1, 000 copies ; Smoking-Caused Diseases, printed in 20, 000 copies. For the purpose of health education and instruction over a million and a half copies of brochures have been printed and distributed. Among these we would single out those printed in cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Health and Social Care: The Colorectal Cancer – 492, 000 copies, and the brochures Men and Cancer, Women and Cancer, and Prostate Cancer (100, 000 copies each). One of the main goals of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer is developing the awareness about the advantages of a healthy lifestyle, about the need for early detection of illnesses, early treatment and rehabilitation. The educational programs against cancer include all social and age groups, and the publications are distributed to all leagues against cancer from Osijek to the region of Slavonia, and beyond. The City of Osijek League Against Cancer pays special attention to the work in clubs for cancer patients, and supports the education of health workers in the area of preventive oncology. To provide wide access to information about prevention, the possibilities of the early detection of cancer, treatment and rehabilitation, the City of Osijek League Against Cancer has started a web site on the Internet (www.prevencijaraka.net), which is constantly being supplemented with new content about oncologic protection. The League uses its material resources to support programs of early detection of cancer found in the most frequent locations, such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal and prostate cancer, which in addition to the health aspect have an important mobilization character. The City of Osijek League Against Cancer takes active part in the organization of rehabilitation, re-socialization and terminal care for people with cancer. There are visits to the affected patients to support their new way of life, nutrition and acquiring of the necessary new skills, and to help with their professional and social integration. The work of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer in cancer patients clubs, the Stoma Club and Mammae Club, which were founded in 1994, has shown good results in improving the life quality of patients. The League supports the continuous education of health care workers and volunteers about oncologic problems. It has also been a co-organizer of courses and symposiums in postgraduate education, especially for family medicine practitioners’ teams and primary health care workers ; it constantly supports and helps the active participation of doctors, nurses and volunteers in numerous professional and scientific meetings, symposiums and conventions on the oncologic problems in the country and abroad. The City of Osijek League Against Cancer has presented its own experiences and results in fighting and early detection of cancer at international conventions organized by UICC worldwide. It is important to point out the remarkably good cooperation between the Croatian Oncologic Society, especially the society’ s invitation to our prominent health care workers from Osijek to participate in the making of the National Program of Prevention and Early Detection of Cancer in Croatia. After the adoption of the program, the implementation on the national level started in 2006 with the program of early detection of breast cancer by mammogram examinations for women aged between 50 and 70, and in 2007 with the program of early detection of colorectal cancer by fecal occult blood testing for men and women aged between 50 and 75. The City of Osijek League Against Cancer helps with the purchase of the necessary equipment for early detection of cancer of the most frequent localizations, its treatment and rehabilitation. Those activities are supported by the citizens, companies and the wider social community. A mammography and an ultrasound scanner have been purchased and donated to The Clinical Hospital Osijek, and gastroenterological endoscopic equipment has been donated to the General Hospital in Vukovar. The League Against Cancer initiated and supported the foundation of city leagues against cancer in the towns of Beli Manastir, Đakovo and Našice. The activities and success in implementing the adopted programs of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer for the past period are the result of approaching the fight against cancer from the standpoint of the community and with a wide participation of the population, aware of the fact that these programs should be incorporated into the community health policy, and that they should have realistic dimensions and be supported by all structures of the society, good communication with the health institutions, social institutions, economic institutions, the media and prominent individuals. The success rate of all these activities should be monitored all the time. A very important contribution to the success of all the actions of the program came from the staff of the Medical Center Osijek, Public Health Institute for Osijek-Baranja County and the Clinical Hospital Osijek. In the past 40 years, the programs of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer have had the full support of the wider social community. The League has developed strong links with educational institutions, economic subjects, the Red Cross and religious. Volunteers and many health care workers offered their help with the organization and implementation of the program. Furthermore, the activities of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer have been covered and supported by the media. Together with the Croatian League Against Cancer, as the national umbrella organization, the City of Osijek League Against Cancer has from the beginning been connected with all related national and international associations and institutions, thus forming a part of the world fight against cancer. World experiences, as well as our own, show that the prevention and the early detection of cancer and applying the contemporary therapeutic procedures can greatly contribute to stopping the illness, decreasing the extent of it and to the successful treatment of cancer patients. The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) thus demands global activities connected with the fight against cancer in order to prevent cancer from being one of the main threats to mankind. It calls for a world in which knowledge, prevention and early detection of cancer will be accessible to all ; a world in which all who have that vicious disease will have the best treatment and care. At the World Cancer Congress organized by UICC in 2006 in Washington, the participants, the delegates of governments, national and international non-governmental organizations, professional associations, academies and civil society associations as well as the congress participants from Croatian medical institutions and the City of Osijek League Against Cancer prepared and adopted a Declaration that calls for urgent action making the control and fight against cancer the world’ s priority in this decade. The declaration points out that only by a wide and targeted joint effort of the public, non-profit and private sectors can the world community be incited to a decisive endeavor to control and fight cancer. It has been scientifically verified that investments in the fight against cancer are at the same time investments in the health of the population and the economic prosperity of every country. Therefore it is necessary to mobilize the public and financial sectors, the economic and governmental institutions with encouraging messages to make national programs for the control and fight against cancer. These programs should unite prevention, early detection, treatment, palliative care and support to cancer patients, their families and friends. The programs should be directed to the most frequent locations of cancer and have a realistic dimension and the support of the health system and the community. There is a need to accept the strategy of the WHO on the control of tobacco products, which includes the price and tax policy, and the right to protection from being exposed to tobacco smoke, the limitation of sponsoring, advertising and promoting tobacco products, special labeling and the prohibition of sale of tobacco products to under-aged persons. There is a need for clear guidelines for the early detection of cancer and the treatment of the affected people. They will be determined on the basis of epidemiologic observations of cancer spreading and on the basis of acknowledged facts, with adjustments to the different socioeconomic and material circumstances and the simultaneous implementing of national educational programs for the public and health care staff about the importance and need of the early detection of cancer. This process calls for additional investments into the health care system, which is something that the entire social community needs to be aware of. In the institutions for the treatment of cancer and home care, the palliative care and pain control should become important activities, including the accessibility of opiates, the control of the side-effects, psychological support and family support. The affected people, their families and people in their immediate surroundings should be able to take part in the activities connected with the fight against cancer – on local, regional and national levels – and should have the right to additional training. It is very important to secure the financial means for monitoring cancer in cancer registries, where prevalence, incidence trends and cancer mortality rate, risk factors, lost years and survival will be monitored. There is a need to monitor the effects of prevention, early detection of cancer, the treatment and the palliative care, which includes the judgment of the progress of the applied measures in order to prepare the future activities and the further role of the organizations participating in the national and international control of cancer. The abovementioned endeavors are supported by the Council of Europe in their recommendations about the early detection of cancer of the breast, cervix, and colorectum from the year 2003 and in the 2007 declaration Europe Against Colorectal Cancer from Brussels. The City of Osijek League Against Cancer has implemented many of the guidelines set up by the Declaration of the World Cancer Congress in 2006. Furthermore, the experiences of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer presented at international conventions on cancer in Budapest (1986), Hamburg (1990), New Delhi (1994), Rio de Janeiro (1998), Washington (2006) and Rio de Janeiro (2007) are part of these endeavors. As members and activists of the City of Osijek League Against Cancer we follow the future endeavors of the World Health Organization (WHO), The International Union Against Cancer, the Council of Europe, the Croatian National Institute of Public Health, the Croatian League Against Cancer, and the Croatian Oncologic Society – proud that a grain of our knowledge, experience and contribution is weaved into the world strategy to fight cancer.

Gradska liga ptotiv raka Osijek; prevencija; rano otkrivanje i liječenje karcinoma; rizični faktori;

nije evidentirano