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“People with cancer rightly complain that despite the end of quarantine due to an ineffective registration system (separate health facilities use separate platforms, telephone registration does not work properly when the line is busy, often referrals from GPs are required multiple times, although the patient may already be having repeated consultation with a specialist in a specific field) and because of the queues they cannot access specialists, “says Seimas member L. Kasčiūnas.
According to the Association of Cancer Patients (POLA), up to half of cancer patients have not yet had the opportunity to see a doctor, despite the record, and the tests have to wait even longer.
The member of Seimas L. Kasčiūnas draws the Minister’s attention to the fact that during quarantine and emergency situations, after the termination of hospital services and planned medical care by health institutions, except in cases of emergency, patients with cancer diseases did not receive timely medical consultations, including emergency care: many patients were delayed surgical, chemotherapy and radiotherapy services, which may have long-term health consequences for some patients.
“Data from a study published by the Association of Cancer Patients (POLA) raises serious concerns about the long-term negative effects on the health status of cancer patients and the possible increase in cancer mortality: more than one one-third of oncology patients received no medical advice during quarantine; they did not even receive emergency assistance, 30 percent did not receive surgical services, more than 20 percent – radiology services, and more than 10 percent – including emergency services. chemotherapy, ”says Seimas member L. Kasčiūnas.
According to the MP, western scientists estimate that only in the United Kingdom, limiting cancer medical care due to quarantine could increase mortality from this type of disease in the country by a fifth in the next 12 months. L. Kasčiūnas regrets that so far no situation model or urgent action plan has been developed in Lithuania.
Unfortunately, the Health Minister, Aurelius Veryga, has so far taken no action to change this intolerable situation immediately. The passivity of the minister and the electoral rounds in the country’s hospitals do not contribute in any way to reducing the suffering of people with serious illnesses, the Constitution establishes the right of patients to guarantee the availability of free health services, “says the conservative L. Kasčiūnas.
According to the Seimas member, according to the patients themselves, the situation forces the population with cancer, despite being covered by compulsory health insurance, to seek paid help in private clinics, it encourages corruption in state medical institutions. “At that time, patients who could not afford it simply gave up the will of the disease and its claws,” says L. Kasčiūnas.
According to the politician, despite complaints from patients to the Ministry of Health about non-compliance with legal provisions that the patient has the right to choose a personal health care center (that is, without registering oncology patients in a treatment center, no information on timely availability is provided in another), the ministry simply refused to take steps to guarantee the rights of these patients in the country’s treatment facilities.
The letter calls on the Minister of Health, A. Veryga, “to take all measures within its competence without delay to ensure compliance with the Health Care Act (on maximum deadlines for the provision of medical care ), the Patient Rights and Health Damage Compensation Act and the Health Care Provider Health Insurance Act) and the situation where the provision of services to oncology patients is, in fact, a restriction would be removed immediately. “
In Lithuania, 18,000 people contract cancer each year, and 8,000 people die from this disease each year. There are currently up to 100,000 people with cancer in Lithuania. The number of people suffering from cancer diseases in Lithuania increases by several hundred people each year, and the mortality from this extremely complex and insidious disease, although decreasing, is only 0.5 percent per year, while the average cancer death rate in Europe it is about 5-8 percent per year.
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