A Social Report helps make an organisation’s activities, results and use of resources transparent and understandable, allowing citizens and other stakeholders to assess its contribution to the community.

Within EUCanScreen, the Italian Competent Authority is developing a Social Report to communicate the Joint Action’s work and expected impact, while encouraging dialogue with those involved in and affected by its activities.

In this video interview, Alice Dell’Acqua (University of Florence – UniFI) and Elisa Betti (Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network – ISPRO) discuss the role of social reporting in public health initiatives and how this approach is being applied within EUCanScreen.

Beyond Reporting Results

A Social Report documents an organisation’s or project’s decisions, activities, achievements and use of resources over a defined period. It enables citizens, healthcare professionals and public authorities to understand how an initiative fulfils its objectives and what effects its activities may have.

Transparency and accountability are central to this process. The information collected can also support management and decision-making by helping organisations evaluate progress, identify areas for improvement and define future priorities.

Social reporting therefore serves both an external and an internal purpose: providing information to the wider community while supporting organisational assessment and strategic planning. 

Reducing Inequalities

Reducing inequalities in cancer prevention also means ensuring that organised screening programmes are accessible to people who may face geographical, organisational or socio-cultural barriers to participation.

In Italy, the National Programme for Health Equity (PNES) 2021–2027 is the first national health programme funded through EU Cohesion Policy. It operates in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily, seven regions where health services face greater organisational and financial challenges and where the achievement of the standards defined by the Essential Levels of Care is lower than in other parts of the country.

Make Access to Healthcare More Equitable

The programme aims to strengthen health services and make access to healthcare more equitable, with particular attention to people in socio-economically vulnerable conditions.

PNES works across four priority areas:

• health poverty
• mental health
• gender-sensitive healthcare
• increasing cancer screening coverage

Breast, Cervical and Colorectal Cancer

One of these areas is specifically dedicated to increasing cancer screening coverage. It focuses on the three organised screening programmes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer and aims to improve their effectiveness and efficiency while increasing participation.

Particular attention is given to people in socio-economically vulnerable conditions and to those living in remote or disadvantaged areas, as well as to people who are missed by screening invitations or who receive an invitation but do not participate.

Several factors can contribute to non-participation, including limited familiarity with preventive healthcare initiatives, socio-cultural barriers, distance from screening centres and difficulties with transport connections.

To address these barriers, PNES supports the expansion of screening points, the development and modelling of new screening and diagnostic care pathways, more effective communication, staff training and the improvement of screening service organisation. It also promotes the continuous integration and updating of invitation lists.

A key element of this approach is cooperation between healthcare and administrative staff of local health authorities, municipal social services and non-profit and civil society organisations, with the aim of identifying methods and tools that can help reach people who currently participate less in organised screening programmes.

Seven Regions

Across the seven regions, these measures are being translated into concrete actions, including mobile screening units and motorhomes, new or upgraded screening facilities, territorial outreach activities and targeted initiatives for populations facing greater barriers to prevention.

In Basilicata, for example, cancer prevention activities have been carried out in the Melfi prison, including the distribution of colorectal cancer screening kits to eligible detainees. In Sicily, PNES has supported the development of new screening services in Messina and Palermo, strengthening local access to cancer prevention.

Through these interventions, PNES works to strengthen organised cancer screening programmes and make them more accessible to people who are currently less likely to participate in prevention pathways.

Further information

National Programme for Health Equity
https://www.pnes.salute.gov.it/

PNES priority areas
https://www.pnes.salute.gov.it/it/tema/programma-nazionale-equita-nella-salute/aree-di-intervento/

Increasing cancer screening coverage
https://www.pnes.salute.gov.it/it/tema/programma-nazionale-equita-nella-salute/maggiore-copertura-degli-screening-oncologici/

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EUCanScreen is Co-funded by the European Union.

The Local Health Authority (AST) of Macerata, in Italy’s Marche Region, is preparing a pilot project to integrate Helicobacter pylori testing into the existing colorectal cancer screening programme.

Developed within EUCanScreen’s Work Package 8, the initiative responds to a specific local health challenge: the relatively high incidence of gastric cancer in the Province of Macerata.

Helicobacter pylori infection is widely recognised as the main cause of gastric cancer. Detecting and treating the infection can play an important role in prevention, making its integration into established screening programmes a promising approach.

Two tests within a coordinated screening pathway

The initiative is part of a wider EUCanScreen pilot involving five European countries: Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Portugal and Lithuania. The project will investigate a co-screening model that combines colorectal cancer screening with Helicobacter pylori testing, targeting population groups with largely overlapping age ranges.

In Macerata, approximately 1.000 people invited to participate in colorectal cancer screening are expected to be involved.

Alongside the standard invitation for the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), used to detect hidden blood in stool samples, eligible individuals will also be offered a stool antigen test (HPsAg) for Helicobacter pylori.

Those who accept will attend the AST Macerata screening centre to provide informed consent and receive sample collection kits. Samples will then be analysed at the hospital laboratory.

Participation will be voluntary. Individuals who decline will continue to follow the standard colorectal cancer screening pathway, collecting and returning their FIT kits through local pharmacies and designated collection points.

From testing to follow-up care

Participants who test positive for Helicobacter pylori will be referred for a gastroenterology consultation, where eradication therapy will be prescribed and individual and family risk factors assessed.

Further diagnostic investigations, including endoscopic examinations, may be recommended based on the findings.

This pathway connects early identification of the infection with appropriate clinical assessment and treatment.

Evaluating an integrated approach to prevention

Rather than introducing a separate screening programme, the Macerata pilot builds on an established invitation system to offer an additional preventive intervention.

The model could improve organisational efficiency, encourage screening participation and expand opportunities for gastric cancer prevention. The pilot will help determine its feasibility and potential value for healthcare services and participating citizens.

The findings will also contribute to EUCanScreen’s efforts to strengthen the effectiveness, equity and sustainability of cancer screening programmes, providing evidence that could inform similar approaches in other European settings.

Macerata supports Europe!

The Italian National Institute of Health, through its National Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CNaPPS), contributes to EUCanScreen WP6, which focuses on analysing barriers and facilitators to participation in cancer screening programmes.

Cervical, Breast and Colorectal Cancer Screening

More specifically, within Task 6.3, coordinated by the Region of Southern Denmark, the Italian contribution addresses the individual factors that may hinder participation of target population groups in cervical, breast and colorectal cancer screening.

Within activity 6.3.2, CNaPPS contributes a case study showing how a data-driven approach can identify individual factors that hinder or facilitate participation across different screening programmes and population groups.

PASSI

The analysis is based on PASSI, the Italian population surveillance system, which collects data from adults aged 18–69 living in Italy. Among the information collected are the reasons for non-participation in cancer screening and the factors that may facilitate participation.

PASSI represents a unique contribution within EUCanScreen because it provides data collected continuously, through homogeneous and standardised procedures, with national coverage since 2008. In other participating settings, available evidence mainly comes from studies conducted at specific points in time, often focused on a single screening programme and based predominantly on qualitative approaches.

For decades, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing has played a role in the early detection of prostate cancer.

However, its use in screening during the 1980s and 1990s also revealed important limitations, particularly the detection of cancers that would never become aggressive or life-threatening.

Concerns about overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment eventually contributed to the discontinuation of earlier PSA-based screening practices.

In this video interview, Silvia Deandrea, Senior Expert/Researcher at ATS Pavia and EUCanScreen Task 6.1 Leader, discusses how prostate cancer screening is being reconsidered through Italian and European pilot projects, including initiatives coordinated at European level through the Joint Action.

On 22–23 October 2026, Bologna hosts the National Conference of GISCi (Italian Cervical Cancer Screening Group), dedicated to integrating new scientific evidence and recommendations into cervical cancer prevention.

The event brings together screening professionals, researchers and healthcare experts to discuss developments in organised cervical cancer screening, from updated prevention strategies to diagnostic pathways and the challenges of implementing new recommendations.

From European recommendations to personalised screening

The conference opens on 22 October with a joint workshop involving GISCi, the National Centre for Screening Monitoring (ONS) and the Federation of Cancer Screening Associations (FASO), entitled “New Guidelines and Recommendations: From Theory to Practice”.

The workshop examines updated European and national recommendations, with particular attention to their implementation in Italy and the role of regional health systems.

Among the scientific topics are the comparison between primary HPV testing and cytology in unvaccinated women aged 25–29, the implementation of later screening initiation among HPV-vaccinated women, and the use of biomarkers in HPV-based screening pathways.

As Annarosa Del Mistro, President of GISCi, explains in an interview published ahead of the conference, screening protocols are evolving to take greater account of individual risk factors, including HPV vaccination status.

In Italy, the first screening invitation has already been postponed from age 25 to 30 for women vaccinated against HPV under the relevant programme criteria. Another area of development concerns the use of biomarkers following a positive HPV test. By helping distinguish different levels of risk, these tools may support more targeted diagnostic assessment and follow-up, avoiding the same intensity of monitoring for women with different risk profiles.

Equity, programme quality and informed participation

The conference also addresses Italy’s National Prevention Plan 2026–2031 and progress in implementing the National Health Equity Programme 2021–2029, particularly in southern regions.

Accessibility is a central concern, with dedicated sessions examining the barriers faced by people with disabilities and transgender populations in accessing organised screening programmes.

Programme quality is another important focus. Through the annual GISCi survey, experts review participation, testing results, diagnostic follow-up and treatment, identifying areas for improvement across the screening pathway.

On 23 October, scientific sessions explore laboratory testing, the management of cervical lesions, HPV genotyping and developments in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Beyond clinical and organisational developments, the conference addresses the role of awareness and health literacy in cervical cancer prevention.

In her interview, Del Mistro emphasises the importance of helping women navigate the information available, identify reliable scientific sources and understand the value of participating in organised screening programmes.

As recommendations evolve, explaining the reasons behind changes in screening protocols becomes increasingly important. Organised screening is not simply an individual test, but a structured pathway that begins with an invitation and includes appropriate diagnostic assessment, follow-up and continuous quality monitoring.

Turning scientific evidence into better screening, for everyone

This project is co-funded by the European Union

Agenda

Organised cancer screening programmes for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer are established public health interventions in Italy and are included in the Essential Levels of Care. They are provided free of charge and follow structured pathways that accompany people from the initial invitation through any necessary diagnostic assessment and, when required, treatment.

The standard offer includes cervical screening with a Pap test every three years for people aged 25 to 29 and an HPV test every five years from 30 to 64, biennial mammography for people aged 50 to 69, and a faecal occult blood test every two years for colorectal cancer screening among people aged 50 to 69.

National prevention and cancer plans, together with the 2022 Council of the European Union recommendations, have also supported the extension of mammographic screening to people aged 45 to 49 and 70 to 74, and colorectal screening to those aged 70 to 74. Some Regions have already introduced these extensions using their own resources. The new National Prevention Plan 2026 to 2031 confirms the need to extend these age groups throughout the country, supported by dedicated resources provided through the latest budget law.

The 2025 data collected by the National Screening Observatory refer to invitations issued during the year and participation recorded up to 30 April 2026. Invitation coverage measures the proportion of eligible people who received an invitation, while examination coverage measures the proportion of eligible people who actually underwent screening.

Within the Essential Levels of Care age groups, 15,976,679 people were invited in 2025 and 6,565,821 completed a screening test. An additional 1,740,562 people were invited in the age groups currently outside the Essential Levels of Care, with 948,706 participating.

Access to complete, balanced and evidence-based information plays a central role in cancer screening.

As screening strategies increasingly explore approaches based on individual risk, communicating these differences becomes an important consideration for healthcare professionals and programme organisers.

In this video interview, Cinzia Colombo, Head of Unit at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS and EUCanScreen Task 9.1 Leader, discusses the role of communication in risk-based screening and the activities being developed within the Joint Action to better understand people’s information needs.

Informed choice and the importance of tailored communication

Making an informed decision about cancer screening requires access to complete and balanced information grounded in scientific evidence. This allows individuals to consider whether participation is appropriate for them, according to their own values and preferences.

People may differ in the amount of information they wish to receive, the level of detail they find useful and their interest in exploring particular aspects of screening. Social and educational backgrounds, as well as personal values, are therefore important considerations when developing communication materials.

Tailoring communication to these differences can help people make an informed choice about whether to participate in screening.

Understanding people’s perspectives on risk-based screening

Within EUCanScreen Work Package 9, Task 9.1 focuses on identifying effective approaches to communicating risk-based screening.

The activities include a review of scientific literature to examine existing evidence on how these screening approaches can be communicated to the public.

Alongside this work, focus groups involving people from different European countries are planned to explore their information needs, attitudes towards risk-based screening and willingness to participate.

These discussions will provide an opportunity to gather perspectives directly from the people receiving screening information, contributing to a better understanding of how communication can respond to different expectations and contexts.

Organised cancer screening extends far beyond simply offering a test. Its ultimate effectiveness relies on how citizens are guided through the care pathway, how diagnostic follow-up is managed, and how evidence is used to improve programmes over time.

From screening to care: two experiences from the Autonomous Province of Trento

Two initiatives in colorectal and cervical cancer screening illustrate the complementary dimensions of organised prevention: structured telephone counselling following a positive faecal occult blood test (FOBT) and the evaluation of primary HPV testing across successive screening rounds.