Several of the country’s largest hospitals are experiencing a decline in the number of cell and tissue samples submitted to detect cancer during the corona pandemic.
This is evident from a survey by VG.
“The decrease in the number of referrals is worrying as there is no reason to believe that it’s because fewer people need examination and treatment. It is therefore important to encourage those who have symptoms to go to the GP to be assessed, and possibly referred to hospitals,” says CEO Øystein Mæland at Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) to the newspaper.
Ahus has experienced a 30 per cent reduction in cancer referrals since the beginning of March, compared with the same period last year.
The decline is being felt across the country. The number of daily tissue samples at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen has reduced from 230-240 to 130, but is now on the rise again.
The University Hospital of Northern Norway has only experienced a 5 per cent decline between March 1 and April 19, compared to last year.
Since March 15, more than 50,000 cancer screenings have been postponed. Norway has national screening programs for breast cancer, cervical and intestinal cancer.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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