finally expected the arrival of new machinery, but there is a lack of doctors who know how to use them – Corriere.it

by time news

A radiotherapy treatment useful for 60% of cancer patients and indicated for an increasing number of cases and types of cancer. The new machines are faster, more powerful and more focused on the target, sparing healthy organs and tissues, but in Italy there is a shortage of personnel and equipment, so the waiting lists are getting longer. And there is a problem, which the Italian Association of Oncological Radiotherapy has been pointing out for some time: in our country it is urgent to update and expand the fleet. Among the missions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, launched by the Draghi Government, it also finds space the digital modernization of the technological park in Italian hospitals, including linear accelerators, among the main tools used for oncological radiotherapy. An important step forward that the Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (Airo) welcomes with great satisfaction, because it is in line with our commitment to guaranteeing the best possible radiotherapy treatment to all citizens with cancer, in an equitable manner on everything. the national territory comments Vittorio Donato, president of Airo.

Over 3 thousand new devices by 2024

The planned investment, of 1.19 billion euros (out of the total 4.05 expected for this point), provides for the purchase of 3,133 new large high-tech equipment (CT, magnetic resonance imaging, linear accelerators, fixed radiological system, angiographs, gamma cameras, gamma cameras / CT, mammograms, ecotomographs), by the end of 2024. We are very satisfied because the technological and digital modernization, which is a key element of the modern medicine – continues Donato, head of the Department of Oncology and specialist medicines and director of the Radiotherapy Division at San Camillo Forlanini in Rome -. After so many years, we are faced with a broad-spectrum project on the national territory. A radical change of pace, which tends towards an important objective to be pursued as soon as possible: to make the most up-to-date equipment available to ensure the best radiotherapy treatment for patients, in the same way as what already happens with innovative oncological drugs. Modern oncology radiotherapy deals with the treatment of tumors with radiation, alone or in combination with surgery and anticancer medicines, and is used for the purpose of completely eradicate the disease in the treatment of many neoplasms (brain, head and neck, lung, breast, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, rectum, uterus, prostate, bladder and lymphomas). Another goal is to avoid a recurrence of the disease or to eliminate a symptom caused, such as pain caused by bone metastases.


In Italy there is a lack of qualified doctors

The investments envisaged by the Recovery plan for the modernization of the hospital technology and digital park were at the center of a round table organized byGiuseppe Dossetti National Cultural Association, strongly committed to the issue of the age of the technology park since 2017. The latest Airo report of 2020 surveyed 183 public and private conventioned radiotherapy centers in Italy (3 centers per million inhabitants), whose distribution in line with the others European countries as regards the North and the Center, while in the South there is a shortage in the number of machines and radiotherapy units. 29% of the equipment has more than 12 years of service: a relevant data if we consider that the new machines are faster, more powerful and targeted on the target, they save organs and healthy tissues. Furthermore, the surveys show the lack of qualified personnel in our country. The investment envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan in the radiological area is very significant – he comments Corrado Bibbolino, of the National Radiological Area Syndicate -. Other important issues are for the allocation of this equipment and how to use it, ie have sufficient trained medical personnel available to make the most of them. Newly graduated radiologists are certainly capable, but they must be hired: in Italian hospitals there is a problem of generational change, with an average age of 57 years of medical staff, also in the radiological field. In recent years, several competitions have been held, but the public sector in particular is suffering, also because young people are attracted to the private market. a question to consider in the near future why have an updated fleet of machines without medical personnel to make the most of it like having a custom-built car without an experienced driver who can take it to the track.

June 22, 2021 (change June 22, 2021 | 20:04)

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