In DF, the wait for a consultation with a procto or urologist reaches 500 days

Prostate cancer is the type of tumor that kills the most men in the Federal District. However, the DF’s public network has only 22 proctologists and 58 urologists, according to official data from the local government. As the disease progresses, more than 16,000 patients wait 500 days, on average, for an appointment.

According to research by district deputy Dayse Amarilio (PSB) in the Regulation System (Sisreg), 6,382 patients are in line for consultation with a coloproctologist. The average waiting time is 587 days. The study found that 10,021 are waiting to see a urologist. In this case, the average delay is 573 days.

The worldwide Blue November campaign highlights the importance of care and prevention against the disease. Between January 1st and November 11th, 2023, of the 805 deaths caused by tumors, 103 were in the prostate. In 2022, carcinomas killed more than 1,000 men. Of this total, 165 lost their lives to prostate cancer.

“We have major bottlenecks in DF Public Health, in very important areas. These are diseases that, if prevented in advance, will give the patient a better chance of survival and life, but will also cost less public money. And everything has a lot to do with the issue of servers”, commented Amarilio.

Failures in collective efforts

According to the deputy, the collective effort policy to eliminate queues only has positive results at the beginning. This is because the collective efforts are made through partnerships with the private network. Doctors at private hospitals are not part of the Unified Health System (SUS) and, therefore, continuity of treatment is at risk.

“We clear the queue for care, but we are unable to continue these cases, because these are doctors who are not integrated into the public network”, he explained. “For the number of patients waiting and the number of professionals we have in the network, the tendency is to increase. And November is not blue at all. And the situation at the Health Department remains in the red”, warned the parliamentarian.

Other side

O Metropolises contacted the Department of Health and the DF Strategic Health Management Institute (Iges-DF). By note, the institutions did not comment on whether they assess the appropriate number of professionals or not.

Also according to the folder, the public network has the main tests necessary for the diagnosis and monitoring of urological diseases, such as laboratory tests, ultrasound and tomography.

“The first step is adequate evaluation by a urologist. The consultation is regulated and scheduling follows the risk classification and the time of insertion in the system”, explained the secretariat, in a note.