Data for 2020 show that 15 percent fewer cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in Croatia compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019, while the death rate from this disease increased, Marko Jakopovic from the Jordanovac Lung Disease Clinic at the KBC University Hospital Zagreb said on Tuesday.

“In 2020, we had 3,000 new cases as against 3,400 in 2019. It is difficult to believe that the incidence of lung cancer dropped so much in one year. It is more likely that people did not come forward due to fear of Covid and the earthquakes,” Jakopovic said at a presentation of a campaign by the Lung Cancer Support Association “Jedra” regarding the need to introduce an oncology care coordinator into the healthcare system.

Jakopovic said that a lot has been done in the two pandemic years for the implementation of screening tests for for early detection of lung cancer.

“Despite the Covid pandemic, 10,000 CT scans were performed on high-risk people. About a hundred cancers were detected, which is in line with the global average for early detection of lung cancer,” he said.

Campaign for the introduction of oncology care coordinators into the healthcare system

Given that around 25,000 cancer patients are diagnosed in Croatia every year, the “Jedra” association presented the “Be a leading voice” campaign aimed at introducing oncology care coordinators in the health care system.

There are an estimated 170,000 cancer patients in Croatia, and their diseases directly or indirectly affect their families, too, which means a total of around 850,000 citizens or as much as 20 percent of our society is impacted by such diseases.