A special ‘dental check’ has been created in a bid to stop the alarming number of people dying every year from oral cancer.
“We must act,” said organiser of the scheme, Rui Calado. “Five-hundred people die every year from oral cancer and 1,500 new cases come up every year. These are very bad numbers.”
Thus anyone now worried about lesions in their mouths can get a speedy diagnosis.
The health service initiative was presented on Thursday, March 20 (World Oral Health Day) and will involve the collaboration of 240 dentists throughout the country.
According to Calado, director of the National Oral Health Programme, if anyone suspects anything out of the ordinary, they should go to their local GP and get a biopsy.
The tissue and cell samples will then be sent to one of the programme’s dentists and finally tested at a laboratory in Porto.
“We will provide the final results in no more than 10 days,” Calado guaranteed.
The head of the programme stressed that this is an urgent matter that affects thousands of Portuguese people and must be addressed as soon as possible.
