TURIN – The Piedmont Region, through the approval of the regional protocol for the surveillance of former asbestos exposed people – as part of the strategic document on the protection of health and safety at work – has established that from 28 April throughout the region the people who during the of their working life are come into contact with asbestos will be able to voluntarily pre-join the program health surveillance free of chargeaccording to different methods, including the autonomous use of the Salute Piemonte regional platform and the signing of a form in compliance with the protection of the personal data of the interested party.
Health surveillance
Health surveillance involves the carrying out of a set of health procedures aimed at protecting the health of individuals who have been professionally exposed to asbestos in the past and will be completed through exposure assessment, registration in the regional list of those previously exposed to asbestos and carrying out periodic health checks with different levels of detail.
The activity can play an important role in carrying out a diagnosis of the main neoplastic and non-neoplastic pathologies related to asbestos not previously identified in asymptomatic subjects.
For asbestosis it is possible, through health surveillance, to arrive at a diagnosis of the disease, allowing the adoption of tertiary prevention measures, useful for limiting a worsening of respiratory function due to other causes, both professional (e.g. exposure to other dust minerals) and non-professional (e.g. tobacco smoking).
As regards the use of techniques for the early diagnosis of neoplastic pathologies, for pleural mesothelioma the value is mainly linked to the research field, constituting a fundamental tool for optimizing the result of new therapeutic techniques based on multidisciplinary approaches, in the phase of experimentation.
On the contrary, for lung cancer there are indications in the literature that screening with low-dose chest CT in asymptomatic subjects can reduce mortality, especially among heavy smokers.
How does it work
The pre-adhesion of interested parties to the health surveillance program may take place both on the web through the Salute Piemonte regional portal, and with the support of participating pharmacies and in some specific cases through your general practitioner.
The health surveillance activity will be offered by the S.Pre.SAL of the Piedmont Local Health Authorities with the support of both the AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza of Turin, through the structures of the Regional Cancer Prevention Center (CRPT Piedmont), and of Medicine of Work U – Occupational risk in hospitals and other regional healthcare facilities, through agreements and conventions with the S.Pre.SAL who deal with taking care of the subjects.
