2023-06-20 15:13:56
“Advancement in increasingly specific diagnostics and new innovative therapies have led to unimaginable results. A revolution is underway in hematology which must be supported with continuous investments to reach new goals. We are convinced that an Association like ours, and the entire Third Sector, are mature enough to plan services and assistance together with the State, to participate in healthcare welfare planning, report patient needs, work together with the National Health Service to heal that fracture between social and health that has such an impact on social inequalities”. Thus Giuseppe Toro, president of the Italian Association for the fight against leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma (Ail), speaking at the press conference to present the 18th edition of the National Day which is celebrated on 21 June, “the first day of summer, the brightest of the year to underline the light that arises from the ability to share and network with scientific societies and patients, essential for concretely supporting patients and all those who are committed to improving patients’ quality of life”.
Ail constantly finances research on blood cancer throughout Italy. “Furthermore – underlines Toro – it supports Gimema (Italian group of adult haematological diseases) which promotes independent research and works to identify the best diagnostic and therapeutic standards for haematological diseases and, thanks to scholarships and contracts, contributes to training and the updating of doctors, biologists, nurses and laboratory technicians. AIL has invested over 20 million in research, over 5 to finance 114 studies and 3.5 million for the operating costs of hematological centers and hematological stem transplantation. This year – he adds – AIL is making 150,000 euros available to finance five independent research projects developed by the main scientific societies Sie, Sies, Fil, Gitmo and Aieop”.
National Ail day is also the time to “inform citizens and patients about what is happening and future prospects – observes Toro – Informing and sharing the news of science also means working with the institutions to support the rights of patients. Among the main services offered through the 83 national sections – continues the AIL president – domiciliary assistance, the AIL lodging house stand out, which welcomes patients and family members free of charge even for long periods, solidarity trips, a free shuttle to and from the hospital and to school to train volunteers.
Among the future projects, “which we care very much about – underlines Toro – there is the strengthening of psychological support aimed at patients, families and caregivers throughout Italy. The mental health of the patient and of the family who assist him, unfortunately ignored by the majority of Local Health Authorities, is in fact fundamental to ensure adherence to treatment and to overcome the sense of loneliness and isolation that often affect the patient and the caregivers. Currently – he adds – there are 42 Ail offices that offer psychological consultations for the therapeutic process. The association has mangled 400,000 euros for hiring new psychologists. To deal with the acceptance of the diagnosis and the change that affects one’s life – recalls the president of Ail – the help of a psycho-oncologist is essential for a patient. Since 2020 Ail has also been offering a telephone psychological counseling service active every Wednesday from 10 to 12 and from 15 to 17 on the toll-free number 800 22 65 24”.
While sailing the boat of ‘Sognando Itaca’, a sailing-therapy project aimed at psychological rehabilitation and improvement of the quality of life of blood cancer patients with psycho-social rehabilitation activities, from 10 to 23 June, with 9 stops between Trieste and Brindisi – it was recalled during the event – on the occasion of the National Day, the association renews the initiative of the Ail Hematological Problems toll-free number (800.22.65.24) active on Wednesday 21 June from 8 to 20, which offers patients the possibility of speaking with expert haematologists, asking for clarifications on their pathologies and therapies, without the problems of time and privacy they might have with the doctors who usually follow them in their treatment centres.
Finally, “it is dutiful – Toro clarifies – that AIL also spends itself on the environmental issue, for prevention and protection of the environment, so that on well-known risk areas, where unfortunately blood cancers have a statistically significant greater than the national average, decisive reclamation projects and improvement of conditions, including environmental ones, are carried out as soon as possible, in favor of the health and therefore of the life of citizens. The health policy of the future – he concludes – cannot only adopt new and expensive drugs, which risk not being available to everyone, but must have prevention and the promotion of adequate lifestyles as its cornerstone.
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