gms | German Medical Science

27th German Cancer Congress Berlin 2006

German Cancer Society (Frankfurt/M.)

22. - 26.03.2006, Berlin

The meaning of the cancer-self-help and support groups in the supply

Meeting Abstract

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27. Deutscher Krebskongress. Berlin, 22.-26.03.2006. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2006. DocPE560

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/dkk2006/06dkk670.shtml

Published: March 20, 2006

© 2006 Höwing.
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Outline

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Thesis: In the meantime, 400.000 people sicken annually again at cancer approximately in Germany. One of the biggest tasks, to which our health-politics must devote themselves in the next years, is a good and sure supply for these patients for that reason. Also for that reason, the work of the cancer-support groups will increasingly gain importance in the next years. Because their usually honorary co-workers often are affected even by a cancer-disease and know exactly who are these patients require for their optimal supply and know about their custody and needs.

Conclusion: "Without the patients - organizations of cancer are not more an effective work in the 0nkologie today,” the chairman of the Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft, Professor Dr. Bamberg, said on the occasion of the "day of self-help" last year.

And Mrs. Ulla Schmidt, federal minister for health of Germany, said 2002:

"Without life-courage and psychological support and care, the best tumor-therapy cannot work successfully. The cancer-self-help made itself to the task to help here to do courage and to achieve practical help.

The self-help is an essential part of our public health and is to be imagined away no more from the supply-everyday life. The people in the support groups fulfil tasks, which supplement the professional offers of the medical supply in diverse and effective sage, where people, which share their experiences with others, commit here."

And the cancer-self-help with their diverse cancer-type-drawees patient-organizations and support-groups took on the task to inform the population about provision and early diagnosis-measures in order to lower the number of those people that must suffer incurably from a cancer-disease and for that reason early must die. According to assessed values, the cancer-mortality can be reduced by up to 50 per cent with provision-measures and is reduced by up to 10 per cent with early diagnosis-measures. So one could save up to 60 per cent the 210.000 individual valued annually in Germany every year that must die at cancer, and could secure a life for them without cancer and a high quality of life.

Summary: The work of the cancer-self-help is to be imagined away no more from our health-system. Because we believe that only a well informed patient can actively with-shape also the necessary therapy-measures and can take care with it of becoming again healthy.

Figure 1 [Fig. 1].