The surgery waiting lists will be reduced this year with the performance of 924 non-urgent surgeries, which covers all of those currently waiting for surgeries.
This measure was announced in Angra do Heroísmo today by the Regional Secretary for Health that spoke on behalf of the President of the Government, at the opening session of the 6th Surgery Conference of the Santo Espírito Hospital in Angra do Heroísmo.
Miguel Correia pointed out that with the performance of these surgeries, which will be held outside the normal activity hours of the operating rooms of the Azorean hospitals (about 13,600 medium and major surgeries per year), the waiting time for non-urgent cases will be reduced from 24 to 18 months.
With regard to the conference, whose opening session the Secretary presided over and in which cancer is the main subject, Miguel Correia emphasised that “oncology diseases are also a public health concern in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, being the second cause of death, after cardiovascular diseases,” thus the update and share of knowledge generated by this event are very useful.
“The figures of the ‘Incidência do Cancro na RAA – 2000-2002’ (Cancer Incidence in the Autonomous Region of the Azores – 2000-2002), which were presented by Azores Oncology Centre in late 2008, demonstrate the extent of this problem. For that reason, the Regional Health Plan for 2009-2012 will include the Regional Programme for Oncology Diseases Prevention and Monitoring, in line with the previous plans,” stated the Secretary.
In addition, Miguel Correia emphasised “the performance of the Azores Oncology Centre in terms of screening. The breast cancer screening has been already implemented and the cervical cancer screening will soon start.”
The research in this area “plays an extremely important role,” said the Regional Secretary for Health. He also added that “shared medicine practice is fundamental for the diagnosis of new neoplasias, as well as for new treatments”; therefore, “this conference is particularly important at this level.”
The conference which will take until Saturday at a hotel in Angra do Heroísmo will address, among other themes, issues related to acute intestinal ischemia, rectum, thyroid and breast cancer.
“In order to address the issues under discussion, national accredited surgeons and distinguished scholars will enable the share, participation, discussion and consolidation of knowledge in the Azores, but also the contribution for the future of surgery in the Azores towards new challenges and new technologies,” stated Miguel Correia, before praising the work of the event organisation. 
Speaking to journalists, Miguel Correia said that the devices to screen suspicious cases of type A flu among passengers from the United States during the Holy Christ festivities are assured as planned, regardless of the fact that one case was detected in Fall River a few days ago. The same control continues to be done at the Lajes Air Base for all passengers coming from the USA and other countries with confirmed type A flu cases.