engleski

National breast cancer screening programme in Croatia - first results

Breast cancer incidence and mortality rates have been increasing in Croatia over the past 30 years, reaching the ASR(EU) of 90.3/100, 000 for incidence and 27.8/100, 000 for mortality in 2007. At the end of 2006, mammography screening programme was launched as the first national-based cancer screening programme in Croatia. The target population are women aged 50–69, with two years screening interval. The 21 county institutes of public health are in charge of collaboration with mammographic units, distributing invitations and coordination at the county level, while the programme is centrally coordinated by the Croatian National Institute of Public Health. A separate database has been formed for each county, while the central unit can access each of these databases through a common server located at the Croatian Ministry of Health and Welfare. There are 81 mammografy units and more than 200 radiologists (double reeding is obligatory) participating in the programme. According to the preliminary results of the first round of the programme, 720, 983 women were invited, and the participation rate was 58%, but in some counties it exceeded 70%. The number of screen-detected cancers was over 1360 (4.2/1000 mammographies). The number of incident breast cancers in Croatia in 2007 (first year of the screening) in the age-group 50-69 increased by 29% compared to the previous year. Long-term monitoring is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme, however, based on the evaluation of the first screening round, more improvements are being introduced, and higher participation rates are expected in the future.

breast cancer; screening programme

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