“The national health system boasts an excellence of Italian pediatric oncology centers”, also recognized “at an international level. However, there are still many disparities in our nation in the care of children and young people affected by these terrible pathologies. Therefore the most urgent challenge is to improve access to care and assistance in a uniform way”, close to home, “across the entire Italian territory. In this regard, just yesterday, with an amendment to the Milleproroghe decree, we increased by 400 thousand euro, for the year 2024, the resources allocated to the Fund for the assistance of children suffering from oncological diseases”. Thus the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, speaking at the conference this morning in Montecitorio 'World Day against Pediatric Cancer – National Rare Tumors Network: critical issues and prospects for pediatric oncohaematology', organized by Fiagop (Italian Federation of pediatric oncohematology parents and recovered patients), in which Aieop (Italian Association of pediatric hematology and oncology) also participated.
“Over 400,000 children and adolescents under 20 are diagnosed with cancer every year in the world. In Italy there are approximately 1,400 new cases of cancer among children every year and another 800 new cases occur among adolescents”, recalled the minister. “Today, cancer in children and adolescents is an increasingly treatable disease thanks to a modern diagnostic approach which has led to a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of pediatric tumors, which has created the conditions for the adoption of increasingly more effective. These are new achievements in medicine which have led to an increase in survival rates over the years – underlined Schillaci – going from around 30% in the 1960s to over 80% in the last decade. In particular, then , in recent years excellent levels of healing and treatment have also been achieved, in particular for leukemias and lymphomas”.
“We must ensure that everyone can find adequate assistance close to home, among their loved ones – remarked Schillaci – We cannot fail to consider that healthcare mobility has considerable costs, economic and above all psychological, which are sometimes unsustainable for both young patients and for their families. I believe that the reduction of inequalities, as well as the centrality of the patient, the greater resolution between the various care settings, are the great issues we need to deal with today and are also much discussed and foreseen in the National Oncology Plan, a document which identifies the oncology network as the most appropriate organizational model to provide an integrated and complete healthcare response with a multidisciplinary and multi-professional approach”.
This, according to the minister, is “the path to follow, also fully seizing the opportunities of the Pnrr which identifies the strengthening of territorial assistance as one of the main and central purposes of investments in the field of the Health Mission. Strengthening this area of assistance – highlighted Schillaci – will allow cancer patients to benefit from a connection between structures and healthcare professionals from many different disciplines, therefore to benefit from increasingly home-based and truly integrated care between the hospital and local services. The aim is also to guarantee long-term follow-up paths, to truly take care of cancer patients”.
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