A letter to my mom in the countryside

A letter to my mom in the countryside

The official statistics are harsh – since the timely detection of cancer program was launched in January 2009, 2/3 of all women aged 25-69 have already received their invitation to perform state-funded analyses. But only 13.6% of them have gone to the doctor with this letter. The answer to the question of why so few is ambiguous.

Of course, there will always be some women who don’t go to the gynecologist for years – because they don’t want to, because there’s no time, because they don’t care. Also, because there is no money, afraid to discover a disease. Most likely, women who have the above arguments will not draw any letters and calls from the forest, at least most certainly not.

But it’s not just 13% of women +/- who regularly visit a gynecologist. I’m an optimist and I hope there are a lot more of them. So why are the numbers so sad.

For the last 5 years, I have worked only in private medicine. Consequently, most of my patients are relatively solvent, working and some also insured women, for whom a few lats for this analysis are not decisive for this analysis in the family budget.

By successfully cooperating with laboratories, we also offer our clients the opportunity to participate in the state-funded program – there is no charge for the analyses that accompany the letter. We also try to inform our patients about this opportunity by all means at our disposal. However, this is not enough. Every other woman who comes to another preventive examination has not heard about this program, has not received any letters, if she has received it, then after reading the name for free, she decided that she is not covered because she visits a paid doctor. The letters have been thrown away, lost, changing residences, so well laid down that they can no longer be found at the right time. Some, however, are located – in the depths of the drawer, among the old bills, sometimes also at mom’s fields among the old newspapers, which are laid for heating by the fireplace, because letters are sent to the declared place of residence.

This does not mean that in the above cases the woman is not checked – all the necessary tests are carried out regularly. Only this information does not reach the official statistics. The relatively high level of ignorance is cast in the field of doctors themselves, medical organizers, as well as in the media field.Let me not imagine what the proportion of women who do not use the Internet on a daily basis, do not read newspapers and magazines and do not work in the ‘women’s collective’ know about this system.

Together we have a place to work to ensure that women’s level of knowledge and understanding rises faster than the disease knocks on any door, because of the 60,000 women who have carried out the tests, 8 received an answer – cervical cancer. It’s not a little bit and it’s not just numbers, but real women right here next to us.

Also find your letter wherever she is stored, and go safely to your doctor – he will definitely know what to do with it.

P.S. More information about this program can be found Vēža profilaktiskās pārbaudes | Nacionālais veselības dienests (vmnvd.gov.lv)