Atctcv: Cnam will cover 100% of the cost of lung cancer surgeries by the end of 2024

The president of the Tunisian Association of Thoracic, Cardiac and Vascular Surgery (Atctcv), Belhassen Smati, indicated on Saturday November 2, 2024 that the cost of surgical treatment of lung cancer in the private sector should be covered 100%. by the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam) by the end of 2024.

In a statement given to the media on the sidelines of the third annual congress of the association at the International Diplomatic Academy of Tunis, he explained that the Cnam does not currently cover the cost of cancer surgery in private clinics, adding that by the end of this year, by a ministerial decision, these operations will be covered in the private sector.

He added that several private insurance companies have launched health insurance programs covering a significant rate of these types of cancers. He stressed that the public sector provides approximately 600 surgical interventions each year for the removal of malignant lung tumors in hospitals, highlighting the absence of precise statistics on the number of patients with lung cancer.

Smati, in this context, estimated that Tunisia currently has between 5,000 and 6,000 new cases of lung cancer per year. Furthermore, Smati indicated that the Tunisian Association of Thoracic Surgery in Tunis is currently working on the development of a national lung cancer registry which will be ready in 2025 in parallel with the launch of the national early detection program for lung cancer. lung.

The objective of the association is to set up a unique identifier for each patient suffering from lung cancer or any other type of cancer to allow them to receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and that in the event of death, the Civil status is declared on the basis of this unique identifier in order to be able to specify the number of deaths from lung cancer or other cancers.

He also highlighted the prevalence of this type of tumor in young age groups (between 30 and 45 years), which is characterized by rapid spread and difficult to treat.

The Press with Tap