site.btaPM Denkov: Bulgaria Aims at Cancer Prevention, Early Diagnosis

Addressing a public forum at which the National Cancer Plan was discussed, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said that the main priorities Bulgaria sets are prevention, early diagnosis of cancer and the introduction of screening programmes. "The plan has already been adopted, we should proceed with its implementation," Denkov added.

When a patient is diagnosed with a cancer disease, it is important that he is properly taken care of by the cancer care services. The problems in Bulgaria are the high rates of lung, cervical, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer cases. There are measures already put in place for prevention and early detection of some of those, as they have been introduced in the package of preventive activities covered by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), the PM's statement also reads.

Bulgaria is trying to introduce modern and expensive therapies. Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan includes a programme for modernizing cancer treatment facilities and, hopefully, this programme will be implemented and bear fruit in short time, Denkov voiced hope.

Attending the forum, Health Minister Hristo Hinkov stressed that a lot of work is still to be done on the National Cancer Plan, as a lot of time has been lost at a national level for its adoption. "The plan was adopted early this year and I hope this will be the first step towards a real fight against cancer," he added. "We are good at treatment, but not so good at tracking and early detection," Hinkov said. He explained that huge amounts of money (half of the total drug budget, according to him) are invested in therapy and surgical methods and drugs, but the process seems to be isolated from prevention, early detection and patient follow-up after active therapy and long treatment. These activities can be linked together on the way to reduce morbidity, Hinkov noted.

Cancer diseases account for 16% of all diseases in Bulgaria and rank second after cardiovascular diseases, Minister Hinkov also emphasized.

Oncologist Zhelyazko Arabadzhiev, President of the Bulgarian Scientific Society of Immuno-Oncology, who is also a Member of the Board of the EU Mission on Cancer, said: "Cancer is a challenge we must face with joined efforts. Every year, 1.3 million cancer patients die in the EU".

Francesco de Lorenzo, President of the European Cancer Patient Coalition, stressed that it is good that a lot of effort and resources are currently being put into research in Europe to put the patient at the centre of the processes. In his words, all stakeholders work together in the fight against cancer. Cancer patients can now be treated, which is a huge change, including from an economic point of view, he said, adding that by 2030 over three million more people will be affected by various forms of cancer and patient organizations realize that the success of their treatment depends on each EU member state.

Evgenia Alexandrova, head of the Association of Cancer Patients and organizer of the forum, said that the event aims to encourage institutions to launch the activities under the anti-cancer plan.