Communicating breast cancer screening during covid-19 pandemic - a Slovenian experience: Presenter(s): Amela Duratovic Konjevic, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Slovenia

BACKGROUND: Organized, population-based screening programs can decrease the burden of breast, cervical and colorectal cancers. Screening programs have been interrupted since the onset of the COVID-19 disease. The anticipated outcomes include delays in diagnosis and early treatment. In the Slovenian Breast Cancer Screening program, called DORA, which provides screening mammography for Slovenian women aged 50–69 (280,000), planned communication has taken place throughout the pandemic in order to maintain the trust of women and participation rate above 70%. The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of the program's communication during the period 2020-2021 through the number of achieved media outlets and the participation rate. METHODS: Key communication activities: −. Joint calls from all Slovenian cancer screening programs for residents to take part in screening programs during the epidemic. −. Press releases of DORA program. −. Continuous operation of the program’s Call Center. Key communication messages: −. The importance of early detection of breast cancer. −. Ensuring infection prevention during mammography. −. Informing about changes in the operation of the program. FINDINGS: Quantitative media analysis: with three joint messages from all Slovenian cancer screening programs we achieved reporting in all major national media; a total of 62 outlets. With 34 stand-alone messages, we achieved more than 1,000 media outlets. Participation rate: 75% in 2020 and 77% in 2021. DISCUSSION: The media positively accepts the joint communication of national programs and institutions. Screening indicators show participation rate is at pre-pandemic level (75%). Limitation of analysis: we did not measure the factors influencing women's decisions regarding participation in screening during the epidemic. We have shown that planned communication contributes to maintain trust and participation and supports the management of a screening program during crisis, such as the covid-19 pandemic, which can be the basis for planning future crisis management.