One of the Highest Smoking Rates in the EU

Croatia faces a major lung cancer burden, with more than 3,000 new cases and a similar number of deaths each year, alongside one of the highest smoking rates in the EU.

The First National Lung Cancer Screening Program in the EU

In response, the Croatian National Lung Cancer Screening program was launched in 2020 as a nationwide initiative aimed at early detection of lung cancer and reducing disease-related mortality, as the first national lung cancer screening program in the EU.

LDCT

The programme uses low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) to identify small, operable lung tumours before symptoms develop, when treatment is most effective and the chances of successful recovery are significantly higher. Because nearly 90% of lung cancer cases occur in current or former smokers, the programme is intended for high-risk individuals aged 50–75 years who are current smokers or who quit smoking within the past 15 years and have a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years. The screening program is completely digitalized and utilises general practitioners for enrolling participants. Since the start of the program in October 2020, more than 67,000 Croatian citizens have been screened, resulting in over 100,000 LDCT scans.