(This debate post was first published in the Altinget, with which ABC Nyheter has a collaboration).
Lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer we have. In 2022, 3,534 Norwegians were diagnosed with cancer, and each year more than 2,200 die from the disease.
Unfortunately, most patients discover the cancer at a late stage. Then the cancer has spread so much that it can rarely be cured. Screening can detect lung cancer earlier, but a lack of political prioritization means that few patients get the opportunity to participate in a screening program for lung cancer.
A national screening program will save lives
Since 2019, the Norwegian Directorate of Health has been tasked with assessing a national screening program for lung cancer.
Altinget.no is Norway’s first purely political online newspaper. With 28 niche media in Denmark and 11 in Sweden, the Altinget is already an established media house in the Nordics. The aim is to increase understanding of national and European politics through niche journalism of high quality – with a neutral starting point.
FRP’s health policy spokesperson Bård Hoksrud put written questions to former Minister of Health and Welfare Kjerkol in February. He was impatient and wondered when the Directorate of Health was going to start the investigation into the introduction of lung cancer screening.
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There are more of us who are impatient. The slow assessment process and the lack of political follow-up make us worried. Now the new Minister of Health and Care must follow up the directorate.
The EU recommends the introduction of screening for lung cancer
Based on convincing results in international studies, the EU recommended in 2022 to establish national screening programs for lung cancer. Several member states have already established this, or have ongoing studies to assess implementation.
So far, the effect of the screening in the pilot has been very good.
Already in 2019, researchers at Akershus University Hospital started a pilot study for lung cancer screening. The response from the public who wanted to participate in the study was overwhelming. With good reason.
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So far, the effect of the screening in the pilot has been very good. Of the 1,004 who have been examined with CT X-rays, lung cancer has so far been found in 30 participants. Many were former smokers and had quit, but they carry the risk with them. Everyone was offered a smoking cessation program and most of those who smoked accepted. It shows that screening is also an important preventive measure.
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Profitable for Helse-Norge
Figures from the Cancer Registry show that only 30 per cent of lung cancer patients survive five years after they have been diagnosed. At the same time, the figures show that around 70 per cent can be cured if the disease is detected before it has spread.
Screening catches lung cancer earlier, so treatment can be started more quickly. It will save society significant health costs because we can offer more effective treatment options and thus reduce the need for more expensive and resource-intensive treatment that becomes necessary when detected cancer has spread.
In contrast to other established screening programs in Norway, the experience from the Akershus study shows that we can identify those who have the highest risk of lung cancer. Screening for lung cancer is therefore much more targeted. We also know that the proportion of people who smoke has fallen significantly in recent years. This means that it is urgent to get started, but also that the scope of such a screening program could be significantly reduced in the coming years.
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Lung cancer must be put on the political agenda
A central goal in the National Cancer Strategy is that more people should survive and live longer with cancer. It requires rapid implementation of measures that contribute to achieving the objective. It is therefore good that the Directorate of Health can effectively listen to experiences from the pilot study at Akershus University Hospital and other countries in Europe, which show the usefulness of lung cancer screening.
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If we manage to detect lung cancer earlier, we save more lives, reduce the costs of expensive medicines and free up capacity in an already hard-pressed healthcare system.
Our new health minister must prioritize the introduction of a national program for lung cancer screening, but that requires action and political will!
(Voices is ABC Nyheter’s debate section. Regular and occasional contributors write here about topical news topics. We also have a collaboration with the political online newspaper Altinget.no. If you are burning with an opinion or analysis, you can send the text to [email protected], then we will evaluate it).
