6.6.2020. Blue Star Day celebrated

Author: Davor Kust, MD PhD

The onkologija.net team supported the Blue Star Day, which was held in Zagreb this year and was organized by the PINK life patient association. This is an event that aims to raise awareness about the importance of prevention and early detection of colon cancer.

According to the latest data from 2018, over 3,500 people in Croatia are diagnosed with this disease every year, and more than 2,000 die. It is worrying that the number of people who are diagnosed and die is continuously increasing every year. One of the most important reasons for this is the low response to preventive examinations, primarily the fecal occult blood test as part of the National Colon Cancer Early Detection Program. This is a test that can detect the disease in a large number of patients at an early stage, thus enabling a cure, and the test itself is very simple and can be performed at home. Unfortunately, only about 20% of people invited to be tested actually take the test. Given the above, Croatia is at the very bottom of Europe, and therefore it is not surprising that in many developed countries we can see a continued increase in the number of colon cancer patients, but despite this a significant decrease in mortality, while in Croatia this is still not the case.

It is for this reason that health and educational events such as Blue Star Day serve to remind the public once again of the importance of prevention and early detection of this disease, and so that people do not neglect the most important thing they have - their own health. This year, the event was marked by a ride on a blue panoramic bus throughout Zagreb. The ride began at Zrinjevac, and members of the PINK life association highlighted messages and distributed educational materials related to the prevention and early detection of colon cancer along the entire route through several city districts. The event was supported by numerous partners of the association, including the onkologija.net team, as part of which Dr. Davor Kust, MD, PhD gave a statement to the media - Croatian Radio, HRT, RTL, TV Jabuka and Laduato TV. You can see one of the reports about the event at the link below.