At the meeting, which took place on the 31st of January, the representative from Madeira at the Conselho Diretivo da Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas (Directive Council for the Portuguese Order of Dentists), Gil Fernandes Alves, manifested next to the Regional Secretary of Health, Pedro Ramos, the need to implement the Programa de Intervenção Precoce do Cancro Oral (PIPCO) – Program of Early Intervention for Oral Cancer, which is already in place in continental Portugal.
This measure will allow the shortening of the waiting lists for a first consultation in the public healthcare system. Gil Fernandes Alves warned that “at the moment, a patient who doesn’t have the financial means to do a biopsy in the private sector, will have to be sent to the public sector for a consultation. He waits around 8 months for this consultation. Only then will the patient be able to schedule an appointment for the biopsy”. Pedro Ramos agreed that the program should start as soon as possible.
