The Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) has already invited the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS) to apply for European funding for the construction project of the Algarve Oncology Centre, a “technological infrastructure for diagnosis and therapy specialising in the prevention and treatment of cancer”, to be built in Parque das Cidades (Loulé/Faro).
The ULS, the new public entity that manages healthcare in the Algarve, and which integrated both the Algarve University Hospital Centre (CHUA) and the Regional Health Administration, has until 30 December to submit a proposal, under a notice specifically addressed to it.
This is the official of a long-announced support, which was included in Algarve 2030 at the insistence of the CCDR, within the scope of negotiations with the European Union regarding the Algarve Regional Programme.
“In the area of health, we had several choices: either we defended the mobilization of funds only for Primary Health Care or we bet on something different. In this sense, we fought with the European Commission so that the program could finance a regional center dedicated to oncology”, said José Apolinário, president of CCDR Algarve, on the sidelines of a presentation session of the Algarve 2030 guidelines, in April 2023.
“We are in a situation of discrimination in relation to the rest of the country. The Algarve has no answers in terms of oncology », and patients need « to have this treatment in Lisbon or Seville », he recalled.
At the time, José Apolinário explained that the idea was to “create a centre, in conjunction with the future Central Hospital, which would respond to what is currently a situation of need in the region: we do not have the structures to respond to the treatment and monitoring of people with cancer and, therefore, the region cannot be left behind in terms of the fight against this disease”.
For this purpose, “an initial amount of 9 million euros” was registered, intended for the oncology center, an amount that “may be increased as long as the functional program so indicates”.
In June 2023 – and after the land for the future oncology center has been secured -, the CHUA launched an International Public Competition, to carry out the execution and specialty projects for the Southern Reference Oncology Center (CORS).
When announcing the launch of the competition, CHUA revealed that the “equipment will allow for the combination of diagnostics, treatments and research in the area of oncology in a single physical space, and represents a total investment of 14 million euros (40 percent financed by CHUA and the remainder by the Algarve 2030 Regional Programme). It is estimated that it will provide care for up to three thousand cancer patients annually.”
The future equipment will be installed in an area of approximately 5.500 square meters in Parque das Cidades, will be part of the National Health Service and will bring together all the skills in the area of oncology and imaging so that patients do not need to leave the region.
«CORS will thus bring together several specialties, such as medical oncology, surgery, radiology, nuclear medicine, cardiology, pathological anatomy, clinical pathology, nutrition, chronic pain, physical and rehabilitation medicine, palliative care and social support, so that the patient, in a single visit, can carry out their treatment in an integrated and multidisciplinary way», revealed, at the time, the CHUA.
In the note sent to newsrooms today, announcing the invitation made to the ULS to submit a candidacy, the CCDR speaks of similar numbers – “3.500 people/year, 14.200 people by 2029” – and a base value for the work lower than what had been previously mentioned.
«This is an investment under the responsibility of the Algarve University Hospital Centre (CHUA), with an initial estimate of 12 million euros (8 million euros from European ERDF funds and 4 million euros in capital from the Algarve University Hospital Centre)», says the CCDR.
«The creation of this integrated Oncology Centre in the Algarve, a Southern Reference Oncology Centre, will make it possible to cover the needs of an area of influence of 800 thousand people, in terms of oncological diagnosis capacity, staging [extent of the disease] and patient monitoring, also boosting an area of research in the region, with the inherent attraction of qualified human resources», concludes this entity.
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