Italy and China could use similar approaches in the battle against cancer and even swap strategies, according to the Italian League for the Fight Against Tumours (LILT).
In order to encourage the two countries to compare notes on cancer prevention, a two-day workshop organised by the Italian organisation and its Chinese counterpart, the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, opened on Monday.
"Customs and way of life are different but in China cancer is the leading cause of death and it risks becoming the top one in Italy too," said LILT Chairman Francesco Schitulli said.
"That's why the 'recipes' could be similar," he continued, citing as an example the Laboratories for Oncological Prevention (LOPs) that LILT would like to set up all over Italy.
LOPs are centres equipped to screen the public for the most serious types of tumours. They are at the centre of a proposal that the Italian organisation has made to the health ministry.
"With an investment of 300,000-500,000 euros for every centre, we could save the 80,000 Italians who die each year because of late cancer diagnosis," Schitulli said.
China, home to a third of all the world's smokers, needs public information campaigns just as much as Italy because screening and treatment are not enough, according to LILT.
"More campaigns are needed, in both countries, on healthy lifestyles".
Schitulli said that another important step in the fight against cancer involved acting swiftly to "remedy the ecological disasters that we are causing".
"These are tough battles but if we don't start facing them now we will certainly lose them," he said.
