Few diseases have social repercussions of cancer. The psychological impact is not only on patients and families, but on the entire community. It is a real nightmare of our time that we should know first of all more, starting with the numbers. to clarify it Paolo Veronese, President of the Foundation named after his father Umbertoin an interview withThe reason – freedom in freedom“.
“Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in Italy, with 55,000 new cases each year. This is especially important because it affects only women, and therefore half of the population. Luckily The death rate has decreased by 7% in the past five years, at a constant -1% every 12 months for some years. The second is the colorectal condition, 44,000 cases, and the third is the lung condition with more than 40,000 cases. An interesting aspect – emphasizes the professor – is that in the past six years there has been an overall decrease in the mortality rate of 10% among men and 8% among women. It includes thousands and thousands of fewer people who have died and it’s interesting to see which cancers have gone down: those that are preventable, and the cause is known.”
Despite everything, incomprehensible situations resist. Smoking above all and a surprise: “For years – notes Paolo Veronese – men have reversed the trend towards smoking, with the death rate from lung cancer dropping by more than 15%. ParadoxicallyFemale mortality is increasing due to later use of cigarettes among women, who are now much less than quitting.” The Umberto Veronesi Foundation has been promoting prevention in schools for years: “The problem – Prof. Veronese – Is that The harms of smoking can be seen after 30/40 years, and this is difficult to understand for young people. We should focus on trends and fashion. Fear alone does not work in this sense. In order to combat smoking, we have also worked with foundations for some time and are implementing the petition to Parliament, which was submitted in 2021, for an increase in excise duties on cigarettes and loose and heated tobacco in order to discourage their use.”
The Veronesi Foundation is also a great example of the benign research support mechanism that it has been able to launch, through A network of companies and funders for the work of hundreds of scientists, who are also ambassadors: “Like the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, our researchers are asked to go to schools to see what they are doing for research, and to encourage children to do the same. Research is a hard road, but if you have a passion for science it is beautiful. It makes you satisfied with your work beyond Money. In recent years – recalls the professor – there have been major advances in oncology research, unprecedented in previous years. Innovative treatments were born that were unimaginable until a few years ago, thanks to investments in research. ” “Investments – a carefully read passage in the logic of Paolo Veronese – which mostly come from those who reap an economic return, such as pharmaceutical companies.”
At the 2022 edition of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation’s Research Funding Gala, The three main prizes went to the largest possible number of researchers: “As mentioned, those who do research do so out of passion. In my opinion, women have a special penchant for research. They are more methodical, determined, and persistent. In short, they are more capable, in fact there are more than men.”
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