PolmoniAMO_INGL

4 • It is no longer acceptable to deprive at-risk individuals and the Italian National Health System (SSN) as a whole of this opportunity, whose potential extends beyond cancer prevention, allowing for the early detection of other smoke-related diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease, the third and first causes of death in Italy, respectively. • Investing in lung cancer screening has never been more urgent or imperative. If preven- tion is the key to longevity, action must be taken now to make the most effective tool for beating lung cancer - screening - accessible to those at risk. • With this Manifesto, we aim to stress the urgency of lung cancer screening and provide evidence to support lung cancer screening and its inclusion among the cancer screenings approved and reimbursed by the SSN [Italian Healthcare System]. • With this Manifesto, we aim to promote cultural change by reducing the social stigma that is associated with this disease and that gives at-risk individuals and previously di- agnosed patients a negative, culpable self-image. • Reducing stigma, raising awareness of the opportunities that screening can offer the entire social and healthcare ecosystem, and creating a collaborative model for early diagnosis are the foundations for developing a new approach to lung cancer manage- ment. This paradigm shift will be supported by the increasing involvement of patients and those who perceive themselves to be at increased risk, who will go from mere targets of anti-smoking campaigns to active supporters of their own health. • This is an imperative and urgent request to which the institutions are being called upon to respond and which we intend to endorse with this Manifesto. Institutions and scientific societies are being called upon to implement the followingmeasures: • Ensuring that citizens at high risk of developing lung cancer (due to age and tobacco exposure) are able to access screening by including screening within the Es- sential Levels of Care (LEA) along the same lines as cervical, colorectal and breast cancer screening programmes. • Institutional information campaigns - through national and local, traditional, dig- ital and social channels - broken down by age group, for the effective and continuous dissemination of information on the importance of lung cancer screening, including through the direct involvement of patients’ and citizens’ associations. • Establishing and funding screening through a dedicated fund for a nationwide screening programme aimed at all citizens identified or identifiable as being at risk of