New center in Lisbon increases breast cancer screening capacity
"This center will read around 131,000 mammograms, with the aim of increasing annual readings by more than 10,000," said the president of the Portuguese League Against Cancer (LPCC), Francisco Cavaleiro Ferreira. The fixed unit, he said, will allow around 100 people to be screened every day.
At the inauguration of the center, on Av. da República, the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, highlighted the municipality's commitment to strengthening health services for the population: "We have to get to know people on a daily basis and their problems, go to the neighborhood and ensure that people have access to consultations and essential care."
Praising the role of Europe - committed to the mission of making cancer a chronic disease, so that no one dies of cancer - Carlos Moedas took on the challenge of "fighting for fundamental science, for the role of science, for investment in science". Lisbon, he recalled, has made progress with the creation of outreach clinics, along with partnerships with major institutions in the area of health research: "This part of science is absolutely important," he stressed.
But, he warned, "with artificial intelligence, we can change everything in the world, but what will become rarer is the human touch. I want my doctor to have artificial intelligence, but I don't want my doctor to be artificial intelligence. The doctor, the nurse, the assistant, the person who is here, the first person who is going to be there at the door when someone comes in, that person has an absolutely unique importance for the future."
And, he added, "the LPCC has not only saved so many lives, it has given hope to so many lives, it has transformed the daily lives of these people".
Rui Oliveira Soares, head of the Southern Regional Center, stressed the importance of offering dignified conditions to those waiting for results: "People who are waiting for a result, which can be difficult to accept, have to be in a place with a minimum of decency."
The municipal building was given to the LPCC for a period of 30 years, with a symbolic monthly rent, allowing it to house the fixed screening unit, the breast cancer reading and diagnosis center and the Lisbon Support Group. The transfer falls within the scope of the Municipality's Real Estate Assets Regulations and serves projects of relevant public interest.