On Friday, 10 July, a press conference was held at the Bolesławiec ZOZ with the participation of Tomasz Michalski, head of the general surgery department, head of the oncology subunit Ewa Wizgird and Marek Pudełko, a specialist in surgical oncology.
“The idea of establishing the subunit emerged about a year and a half ago. The aim was to make the best possible use of the existing capabilities of the general surgery department and offer the residents of Bolesławiec County and the surrounding area better, specialist cancer treatment,” Michalski said.
The surgical oncology subunit, which started operating at the beginning of the year, functions within the general surgery department. It has 15 beds. “Our contract is small [około 35 tys. zł – przyp. red.] and allows us to operate on 15–16 patients a month. So far, about 100 patients have passed through the subunit,” Ewa Wizgird stressed.
Specialists at the Bolesławiec surgical oncology subunit will treat patients with various types of cancer. “The number of people suffering from cancer is increasing every year,” Marek Pudełko noted. “The rise in cases of colorectal cancer is particularly rapid. Among both sexes, it reaches 14% annually, compared with an average cancer incidence rate of 3%,” he added.
The subunit has equipment, including a surgical diathermy machine worth PLN 120,000, enabling many examinations and procedures that until now could only be performed in Wrocław, Legnica or Jelenia Góra.
“We want to focus on prevention. Many people do not want to get tested because they are afraid of the examination and of the word ‘cancer’,” Tomasz Michalski said. “We want to encourage these people to come to us without fear and undergo specialist treatment.”
(information: Gerard Augustyn)