ZAGREB, January 25, 2020 - The national day for prevention of cervical cancer, known as Mimosa Day, was marked in Zagreb's Cvjetni Trg square on Saturday with a traditional charity sale of branches of mimosa flowers.

The event, organised for the 13th year in a row to raise public awareness of the importance of cervical cancer prevention, was attended by Mayor Milan Bandić, who called on women to undergo regular medical check-ups and get vaccinated against the HPV virus.

The secretary-general of the Croatian Anti-Cancer League, Neda Ferenčić Vrban, called on parents to have their children, both girls and boys, vaccinated against HPV in eighth grade, as recommended by the national HPV vaccination programme.

Cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) in 99.7 percent of cases. Since there is no effective cure against HPV, regular medical examinations are important to detect HPV infection as early as possible. The cervix is one of the most frequent cancer sites in women aged 20-49, and the most critical period for infection is adolescence.

About 300 women in Croatia are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and every third day one woman dies from it, the event was told.

Mimosa Day is organised by the Croatian Anti-Cancer League and the City of Zagreb Office for Health.

More health news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, January 17, 2020 - The Dignitatis association of patients on Friday welcomed the National Lung Cancer Early Detection Programme, saying however that the programme was discriminatory because not all patients had equal access to the programme as only certain hospitals possess the necessary LDCT screening equipment.

"When the programme was being planned it should have taken account that all counties need that equipment as the majority of patients who would perhaps decide to participate in the programme will not be in a position to do so because of the distance and costs involved," Dignitatis said in a press release.

"We condemn this discrimination against patients in Croatia and ask that before the programme is implemented that the Health Ministry secured the necessary apparatus in all county centres for the programme to be able to be implemented in a quality way and be accessible to all patients," Marina Novaković Matanić of Dignitatis said.

The KoHOM association of family doctors on Thursday warned that conditions had not been established to implemented the screening programme.

With the announcement that the first screens could start as of Friday has put family doctors in an awkward situation because they have to explain to patients that the programme is not ready yet.

We welcome the national programme, which we helped prepare. We are prepared for cooperation in implementing it however the programme has not come to life nor will it tomorrow either as announced in the media, KoHOM said on Thursday in a press release.

KoHOM has asked that patients for their understanding and to approach the Croatian Health Insurance Institute and Health Ministry for any further information.

More health news can be found in the Lifestyle section.