As part of the European Week against Cervical Cancer, which has been celebrated for 18 years, the Military Medical Academy held a national symposium on the diagnosis and prevention of this malignant disease.

The symposium was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Military Medical Academy of the University of Defense in Belgrade, Prof. Dr. Sonja Marjanović, the Head of the Military Medical Academy, Colonel Prof. Dr. Nenad Perišić, with associates, representatives of health and educational institutions in Serbia.

In his welcoming speech, the Head of the Military Medical Academy, Colonel Prof. Dr. Nenad Perišić, said that today is an opportunity for a joint contribution to one of the most important battles in modern medicine - the fight against malignant diseases.

- As we know, cervical cancer is a disease that we can prevent. And that is why prevention, early detection and education must be at the center of our actions. It is very important to once again emphasize the importance of screening programs, vaccinations, and education, not only for medical personnel but also for the general population - said the head of the MMA, Prof. Dr. Nenad Perišić.

He wished the participants successful work and thanked them for their dedication and desire to create better professional and scientific results together.

The head of the Group of the Institute of Diagnostics and Therapy of the MMA, Prof. Dr. Biserka Vukomanović Đurđević, who was also the organizer of the symposium, in her address to the participants emphasized that the program consisted of two parts - the clinical part, in which experts from clinical branches of medicine presented tools for the prevention of the most preventable cancer, and the second part - in which the most modern diagnostics and therapy would be presented.

- The tasks of the symposium are to prevent the number of one thousand sick and five hundred deceased women during one year, through health and educational work, individually, interdisciplinary, one-on-one, by talking to each patient and each young person and health education, so that at the next meeting, the not-so-good statistics of the disease whose cause is one and only – the human papillomavirus, will be completely different - emphasized Prof. Dr. Vukomanović Đurđević.

She also added that all participants’ tasks were to transfer knowledge and contribute to ensuring that patients reported at the stage of the disease when the disease is curable.

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Military Medical Academy, UO Prof. Dr. Sonja Marjanović emphasized the discouraging data on the incidence and mortality of women from this type of cancer and stated that preventive medicine is indisputable and that with the well-known phrase "prevention is better than cure", much can be done to improve reproductive health and the overall quality of life of women in Serbia. Professor Marjanović also emphasized that the role of the Faculty of Medicine of the Military Medical Academy is reflected in the interest of cadets, residents, and doctoral students in this issue, through doctoral theses on the topic of education and the importance of proper information about prevention and vaccination, as well as through the number of final diploma theses that cadets choose to write, which are precisely focused on preserving reproductive health, i.e. on the prevention of cervical cancer.

On behalf of the Association of Pathologists and Cytologists of Serbia, Prof. Dr. Sofija Glumac, welcomed the attendees on behalf of the institution she heads and stated that a meeting of this type is organized in Serbia and in many European countries with the same goal – to improve knowledge about cervical cancer but also to present news about certain types of prevention. She also emphasized that every individual, as well as the community, should influence the reduction of morbidity and mortality of this disease.

In the professional part of the symposium, the lectures included statistics on the incidence of the disease in our country and European countries, a review of interdisciplinary work was made, and the participants were introduced to the plans and ways in which countries with a high rate of people suffering from preventable diseases solve this type of problem. In addition, screening and the HPV vaccine were discussed.