The Ministry of Health announced on Sunday, on World Patient Day, that Croatia is among the first countries in the European Union to launch a program for early detection of prostate cancer, and that soon the pilot phase will begin, which will involve 10,000 men in Zagreb and the Zagreb County, reports HINA.

It is planned that the pilot program will last for one year, it will be conducted in health centres. Over 300,000 euros have been secured for the pilot phase, and it will involve men aged 55 to 69, when the incidence of prostate cancer increases. The goal is to identify potential bottlenecks in the healthcare system and determine measures for the successful implementation of the program at the national level.

The specificity of this program is imaging with multi-parametric magnetic resonance, and the implementation model was developed by the Commission for the Development of the Draft National Program for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer under the leadership of academician Željko Kaštelan.

This opens up the possibility of visualizing suspicious changes in the prostate in combination with an assessment of individual risk. If cancer is diagnosed, the treatment decision will be made by a multidisciplinary team, with the aim of improving the quality of prostate cancer treatment.

"This approach is based on the recommendations of the European Council from December 2022, and with this program, Croatia is one of the leaders in the European Union," emphasizes academician Kaštelan. Family medicine doctors will also participate in the program, and after piloting, it is expected to expand to the national level.