Cooperation with international organization IARC
MoH SR in cooperation with NOI started a two-year cooperation with IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), which is part of WHO (World Health Organization), on the ICCCS project (Improving Cancer Care Coordination and Screening) in January 2022. The ICCCS project is supported by the EU within the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) which is implemented in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM). In Slovakia, the project deals with challenges identified by the MoH SR and NOI and its objective is to reform healthcare infrastructure and services with special focus on improving information system used to identify and invite population eligible for screening, which will create a framework for regular data collection necessary for monitoring and evaluation of cancer screening programs. This international expert cooperation puts in efforts to prepare strategic plans which could improve the cancer screening participation rate. One of the strategies is a communication campaign to raise awareness about the importance of screening as cancer prevention, which could potentially increase the participation rate.
The ICCCS project was concluded after two years of hard work on January 11, 2024, by a final online meeting in which international and local experts presented their conclusions and recommendations for Slovakia. The project assumes that MoH SR and relevant authorities will view these recommendations as binding and in doing so, the actual results of this exceptional project will help increase the quality of screening programs in Slovakia, which will lead to reduced mortality of selected oncological diseases and inclusion among countries where long-running population-based screening for selected oncological diseases has already brought positive results.