Cecília Müller on screening tests: the possibility of sanctioning must be put on the agenda

2023-12-03 12:02:35

In the summer, it was revealed that the National Public Health Center (NNK) and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical and Food Health (OGYÉI) will be merged as of August 1st, which will become the National Public Health and Pharmaceutical Center (NNGYK), which Müller Cecília will drive. An interview with Müller was published in Magyar Nemzet on the first Sunday of Advent, in which it was discussed, among other things, that

with the merger, the number of specialized authority tasks was reduced, the merger brought “staff optimization”, one of the NNGYK's tasks will be to increase the number of healthy life years of the population.

Screening tests were also discussed, in which Müller said:

In order for more people to participate in the screenings, the issue of the possibility of sanctioning must also be put on the agenda, although the profession has not yet developed a clear position on this even at the international level.

Regarding the details:

in the case of cervical cancer, I would like to switch to HPV-based screening in the future, since there is practically no cervical cancer without HPV infection. Based on the analysis of the data of the past period, they would also modify the call for organized screening, this would happen every five years instead of three. In the case of breast screening, the age limit would be changed to 40–70 years instead of the current 45–65, since on the one hand, breast cancer is affecting an increasingly younger age group, and on the other hand, fortunately, life expectancy is constantly increasing, which justifies the extension of the upper limit of the screening age group.