Re-engaging EU citizens with national screening programmes and cancer diagnosis post-pandemic.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of daily life, including access to lifesaving screening programmes, diagnostics, and care. Across the EU, several health-care systems, stretched and understaffed even at the best of times, halted services and reallocated resources and staff to manage the influx of patients with COVID-19.1 Since the onset of the pandemic, COVID-19 incidence and mortality metrics have been readily available in most countries. However, it is harder to appreciate the number of individuals who could not access screening programmes, faced delays in diagnosis, and encountered barriers to appropriate care within the EU.