The president of PSD Algarve, Cristóvão Norte, on Monday demanded the promotion of the Algarve Oncology Center, which he said is at risk of being shut down after two entities supervised by the Ministry of Health issued an unfavorable opinion on the project.
In a statement, the political leader said that the unfavorable opinions primarily come from the Algarve Regional Health Administration (ARS) and from the committee coordinating studies aimed at the eventual launch of the new central hospital in the Algarve.
“Despite Prime Minister António Costa’s public commitment in March this year to move the project forward, we wonder what his word is worth in so many areas of life in the Algarve and the country,” the comment said.
At the end of June, Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) awarded the implementation and specialty projects for the oncology center, which will allow up to three thousand cancer patients per year to be treated in one room.
“The process regarding the new Southern Reference Oncological Center threatens to turn into an absurd Kafkaesque plot, such are the complications to which it is subject,” continues Cristóvão Norte, who regrets that the project was rejected by two negative opinions from government agencies.
For the president of PSD Algarve, it is “absurd” that the government determines that a project must be implemented, and that it is the entities under supervision that prevent the process from progressing, “while five million per year are spent to send cancer patients to Spain”.
According to the person in charge, the project already has a guaranteed community contribution of 60% of the total value for the center, which amounts to 14 million euros.
Project is vital “to respond to 1,500 cancer patients in the region”
“Absurdly enough, it already has a planned date for commissioning, at the end of 2024 (…). Surprisingly, the project has already signed the protocol between the Association of Municipalities of Faro/Loulé and CHUA, the only entity responsible for construction, maintenance and exploitation of all resources,” he continues.
According to Cristóvão Norte, this project is crucial “to be able to respond to the 1,500 patients with cancer in the region, and ensure that they can be diagnosed and treated more quickly in the Algarve, putting an end to the ordeal” of Spain or Lisbon for cancer. treatments.
“It is a very necessary trump that does not advance because there is no king or castling. Some say the oncology center should be located in the future hospital, others say it should be next door. There is an urgent need to solve this problem. “, he emphasizes.
On the eve of a planned visit by the Minister of Health to the Algarve on Tuesday, the PSD Algarve took the opportunity to urge Manuel Pizarro to “solve the problem immediately”.
The future equipment will bring together in one physical space the possibility of diagnoses, treatments and research in the field of oncology, representing a total investment of 14 million euros (40% financed by CHUA and the rest by the Algarve 2030 Regional Program).
Estimates suggest that the new center, which will be built in Parque das Cidades Faro-Loulé, could treat up to three thousand cancer patients annually.
The center is expected to cover an area of approximately 5,500 square meters and will bring together all the necessary skills in oncology and imaging, so that patients do not have to leave the Algarve region to receive treatment.
The space where it will be installed was transferred to CHUA through a protocol signed on April 13 between the hospital center and the Association of Municipalities Loulé/Faro, which share the area where Parque das Cidades is located, where the new central hospital is located and where the Algarve Stadium was built.
Approximately 1,500 cancer patients are diagnosed in the Algarve every year and a number of these are referred for examination and treatment in Lisbon or Seville, 280 and 200 kilometers from Faro respectively.
Source: DN
