In statements to the Lusa news agency, the president of the LPCC-NRN stated that the directors of the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) and the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, as well as the physician and researcher Sobrinho Simões, are among the confirmed guests.

“These will be very simple conversations, very easy for the population to understand. The objective is to give the National Health Service, in the area of ​​oncology, tools for harmonising oncological care, trying to reinforce what is extremely important: proximity and the building of bridges, of connections between health professionals, patients, caregivers and above all the community,” Vítor Veloso said.

Considering that “positive communication is lacking,” but understanding that health professionals “have an excessive workload and a dramatic bureaucratic burden,” the official took the opportunity to suggest the use of artificial intelligence.

“There is too much paperwork, the bureaucracy is immense, doctors spend their lives on the computer, nurses spend their lives on the computer and very little time with the patient. I think that artificial intelligence can be put at the service of what is good and important, such as freeing up professionals by giving them the possibility to look at the patient, talk to them, see them, and feel the patient,” he said.

Speaking to Lusa, Vítor Veloso also advocated establishing a communication discipline in undergraduate and graduate courses in medicine and health.

“If there is positive communication – it doesn't require a long conversation, a simple gesture of two or three words, asking how the family is, where they are from, how the trip was, if they are in a good mood – empathy is created. By creating empathy, the patient accepts everything more easily, and the treatment goes much better.”

The LigAções project will have literacy and public awareness activities every month.

In addition to this presentation, on Wednesday the LPCC-NRN will award16 research grants worth €234,000 to young researchers with projects in the field of oncology and will hold, in Praça D. João I, next to the Rivoli theatre, a physical activity organized by the Porto University Sports Centre, a healthy food 'showcooking' with chef Tia Cátia and a human chain that will serve to publicize the 14 directives of the new edition of the European Code Against Cancer, a work of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

“The 14 principles will be symbolised by 14 circles of different colours that unite in a single cord, in a gesture of solidarity and reinforcement of the importance of prevention and early diagnosis,” the group describes.

In this regard, and recalling that “cancer prevention is based on accessible changes in daily life, but also requires effective public policies that make them possible and sustainable,” Vítor Veloso highlighted this European Code because the new edition “frames prevention as a collective responsibility and a public health priority.”

“It includes, for the first time, concrete policy recommendations for policymakers. The aim is to strengthen the protection of citizens and reduce the impact of cancer throughout Europe,” he concluded.