Professor Kalibat warned that deaths would increase in the near future, although this certainly could have been prevented.

If the economic problems caused by the invasion of COVID-19 seem to be gradually being addressed, the current statistical data that we have more than 200 million infected people on the planet and an endless number of about 5 million victims of the coronavirus not only it is worrisome but also worrisome. fear of the future

Without a doubt, the pandemic has significantly disrupted the provision of medical care to patients. Some surgical, trauma, orthopedic and pediatric wards have been redesigned into wards with severe coronavirus infection, and surgeons are being trained to treat patients with coronavirus infection.

There has been a catastrophic decline in scheduled operations and investigations. But I think the greatest burden has been on the primary care chain, whose central figure is the family doctor. At the beginning of the pandemic, GPs were forced to diagnose and treat diseases remotely (via telephone consultation) to limit the possible spread of the virus, which, of course, did not improve the quality of treatment and was a burden. additional psychological treatment for the patient. Family postulate: you cannot make a diagnosis and a treatment without examining and examining the patient.

It is true that working under quarantine conditions for objective reasons did not adequately treat chronic diseases, reduced examinations, various procedures, assistance for rehabilitation, etc. It is regrettable that the pandemic hit all ongoing disease prevention programs particularly hard.

Since cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, special attention has been paid to the cardiovascular disease prevention program. If a year before the introduction of the quarantine, around 300,000 people responded to proposals for health examinations for men aged 40 to 54 and women aged 50 to 64, more than a quarter of the participants withdrew from the program during the quarantine year. An investigation by researchers from Vilnius University has shown that probably three thousand patients were not diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in time, which in the near future will unfortunately increase the number of deaths, which could really be prevented.

Paradoxically, if as a doctor I had to observe more than one case at the beginning of my career, when we did an electrocardiogram and diagnosed old scars on the heart, which showed previous heart attacks that patients were unaware of due to the pain. He went nowhere and no one told them. which is very dangerous, so now, during the pandemic, many family doctors admitted after a while that even if they felt pressure or pain in the chest, it was transmitted to the hand, shortness of breath. and very aware of the danger, they did not go to the doctor for fear of entering a medical center because they were constantly accessed with information that medical centers were becoming major sources of coronavirus infection.

Regarding the early diagnosis of oncological diseases, it must be recognized that the situation around the world has become critical. It is estimated that around 10-12 million cancers were not diagnosed in time due to the pandemic, which could increase the death rate from cancer diseases by up to 10%.

The four cancer prevention programs currently underway in Lithuania experienced a significant decrease in the number of participants during the pandemic. The prostate cancer prevention program (for men ages 50 to 69, if the father or brother was ill, starting at age 45) was reduced by as much as 43 percent. The colon cancer prevention program (the study is conducted twice a year for both genders between the ages of 50 and 74) did not receive 33 percent. Participants. The cervical cancer prevention program (smear performed 3 times a year for women ages 25 to 59) decreased by 29 percent.

The fear of the coronavirus appears to have been greater than that reported by a 4- to 5-fold increase in cervical cancer in countries without the program. The results of the breast cancer prevention program offered to women ages 50 to 69 are not much better, as the number of mammograms has decreased by 28%. Surprisingly, even now that a large proportion of the population is fully vaccinated, more than one person, invited by a family doctor, refuses, citing the poor epidemiological situation in the country and the particularly rapid spread of the dangerous delta strain COVID- 19.

Many GPs are likely to wonder if excessive fear of the coronavirus does more harm than the coronavirus itself. Hopefully all fears will disappear over time and all prevention programs will gain the right momentum.

Given the current situation, it may be necessary to appoint coordinators for a more effective implementation of prevention programs and, of course, it is necessary to expand the age limits of the subjects, since most diseases are getting younger.

It is good that in 2021. 24.5 million euros are allocated to prevention programs. Or perhaps more is needed, because the medicine of the future is primarily preventive medicine.