A cardiological screening on the San Marino population is underway
An important cardiological screening project on the entire San Marino population from 50 years of age will take place in San Marino in the coming weeks. This is a significant prevention initiative, commissioned by the Director General of the Institute for Social Security, who identified the Italian Society of Geriatric Cardiology as the scientific partner of the project. The presentation took place this morning – on the occasion of World Heart Day – in the institutional headquarters of Palazzo Begni, in the presence of the Secretary of State for Health, Roberto Ciavatta, the Director General of the ISS Francesco Bevere, the Vice President of SICGe Alessandro Boccanelli and the head of the Cardiology Unit of the State Hospital of San Marino, Piercamillo Pavesi. The project developed by the ISS aims to carry out a screening that will involve all citizens who will turn 50 and 70 in 2023, for a total of almost a thousand San Marino citizens. The goal is to deepen their health status of the cardiovascular system, through the use of the “risk card” by general practitioners and the appropriate and correct execution of the cardiological examination and, in cases identified by specialists, level 2 cardiological examinations (cardiac echocardiography, stress test and coronary CT scan in particular, a technology that the State Hospital has recently acquired). The statement made by the ISS General Manager at the time of taking up the post last January, when the need to promote prevention and early identification of cardiovascular problems in the San Marino population, due to the high incidence, becomes concrete in the declaration. recorded on the Titan. “I am very happy with what has been announced today – concludes the Secretary of State for Health Roberto Ciavatta -. Investing in prevention is the primary objective of each country. The San Marino health system already invests heavily in screening and controls and thanks to this project we can add an important new step in this direction, for the benefit of the patients and in general of our entire community “” Cardiovascular diseases are an important health problem of the western population, they are associated with high morbidity, high mortality and considerable health costs – says Dr. Pier Camillo Pavesi -. According to data from the Higher Institute of Health, in fact, cardiovascular diseases represent the main cause of death in Italy, being responsible for 44% of all deaths. And these numbers are substantially superimposable also to the San Marino reality ”. “The study that will be carried out in San Marino – says Professor Alessandro Boccanelli – like what we are carrying out in Italy, will allow for more effective community prevention. The importance is twofold, as those who survive a heart attack become chronically ill, with a change in the quality of life. Therefore, reducing the risk of heart attack, in addition to reducing deaths, also means reducing considerable economic and social costs; furthermore, due to the increase in life expectancy, other cardiovascular diseases have become epidemiologically very relevant, such as, for example, the underestimated diseases of the heart valves such as aortic stenosis or mitral insufficiency. These usually occur after the age of 65, so particular attention should be paid to this segment of the population “. “I believe that the collaboration that starts today – explains the ISS General Manager Francesco Bevere – is very significant and concrete. Prevention is fundamental, as it is the most important tool for keeping the main risk factors of our citizens under control. Keeping risk factors under control under the risk factors of some diseases means convincing people to adopt increasingly personalized lifestyles and daily behaviors to keep us healthy. As already foreseen, the involvement of General Practitioners will also be fundamental. Those who do not have time to prevent, sooner or later find time to cure diseases. We are all here together to promote this initiative and those to come, with the aim of arriving before the onset of some acute heart diseases, such as heart attack. Arriving earlier means saving people’s lives ”.
Cs – ISS