Sample collection boxes will be installed in health centers to resume colorectal cancer screening

The Ministry of Health will install it before the end of the year in all health centers in the Community. a stool collection box system for a colorectal cancer early detection program.

The goal is to make sample collection more accessible and flexible and therefore increase the participation of the target population in screening for this type of tumor, which timidly exceeds 40 percent despite it being the best measure to identify the problem. which, if left untreated, can become an invasive and life-threatening cancer.

The clearly identified mailboxes will be located at the entrance to health centers, in a visible and accessible location, away from heat sources and direct sunlight, Public Health Director General Sonia Tamames told Ikalu. .

He explained that the move will allow the public to come in any time the health center is open to give samples without having to make an appointment with a nurse. In their view, this could improve participation by improving accessibility without specifying a specific day and time of delivery, while reducing the burden of care. in primary care nursing consultations.

Currently, participation in the program requires an initial appointment at the medical center’s medical center, where the patient’s ability to take the test is confirmed and the kit is delivered. Until mailboxes arrive, a second appointment is required for delivery.

“We have found that for this reason, many people end up not providing a sample due to lack of availability and sometimes due to lack of healthcare capacity.” “We understand that this makes delivery much easier for people because simply at any time, no matter what that may be, they can walk into their health center during opening hours and drop a sample into that mailbox and it will be processed without further ado. inconvenience,” insists Tamames.

At the moment, samples can only be taken at the medical center to which the patient belongs, since each one sends them to its own reference analytical and laboratory center. However, after logging the system in Public Health, they do not rule out that in the future they can be delivered to any center.

A pilot screening program for letterbox cancer has been carried out since March in the Miguel Armijo Moreno health centers in Salamanca and in Pisuerga in Arroyo de la Encomienda (Valladolid).

It was initially expected to last until June, but “good reception” from professionals and users allowed it to be extended. “Although it is too early to assess whether the implementation of the system has contributed to an increase in participation, the satisfaction of this measure is that it facilitates the delivery and collection of samples,” which led to its implementation throughout Castile and León.

Low participation

With this step we want to give the program a new impetus and increase participation, since it has not yet gained popularity among the population. It is true that the figures for Castile and León are similar to those for the country as a whole, but they are very far from other screening programs such as breast and cervical cancer, which have a longer history and target a group of women who are generally more methodical relate to this type of tests and taking care of your health.

The latest year-end data for 2023 shows that only 40.8 percent of guests took part in the program, or 156,413 of the 383,046 offered. These are preliminary figures because once a person is invited, they have two years to go to the clinic and take the test. If we analyze the figures by province, we can see that the only one above 50 percent is Soria with 50.44, while Zamora is at the bottom with 36.9 percent of participants.

For the population from 50 to 75 years old

The Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Program aims to reduce morbidity and mortality from this tumor by identifying precancerous lesions (polyps) and colorectal cancer when they do not yet have symptoms. The screening test used is the fecal occult blood test, which must be done every two years, and colonoscopy is used as a test to confirm the diagnosis.

Until 2024, the target group was men and women aged 50 to 69 years. Since April, the Ministry of Health has decided to expand the target population to 74 years of age, following recommendations from the Spanish Association of Gastroenterologists and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine. This move was made because today’s population over 70 years of age has a very different health status than ten years ago, allowing them to be offered certain therapeutic options that they previously could not tolerate.