The Hospices Civils de Lyon launch the first mobile screening truck for respiratory diseases
During the month of June, the Hospices Civils de Lyon will launch the very first mobile respiratory disease screening truck onto the roads of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
With 52,000 new cases of lung cancer detected each year and causing approximately 33,000 deaths annually, the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) is the first mobile screening truck for respiratory diseases. In partnership with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, the Regional Health Agency (ARS), and the government, this Pneumobile is primarily part of a prevention approach and a "reach out" to vulnerable populations, while screening efforts are still too often neglected.
The cost of the experiment is estimated at €1.3 million, plus €500,000 in annual operating costs. The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has allocated more than €490,000 to the project, while the Regional Health Agency (ARS) has allocated €200,000.
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Inaugurated this Friday, June 6, by the Minister of Health and Access to Healthcare, Yannick Neuder, the truck represented a real challenge for the HCL. On board, a scanner and an on-board care unit were designed. Twenty-four healthcare professionals will take turns traveling the region's roads: two nurses trained in tobaccology and spirometry, a radiographer, medical-administrative staff, responsible for welcoming and registering participants, as well as a clinical research associate whose presence will be required depending on the research protocols associated with the device.
Patients invited to be screened are people between 50 and 74 years old who present themselves as smokers or ex-smokers of more than 20 packs of cigarettes per year. They will be able to benefit from lung cancer screening by chest CT scan, COPD screening by breath test, a tobacco consultation with cessation assistance, an assessment of cardiovascular risk factors, as well as devices allowing for research projects on screening.
However, the HCL states that no results will be communicated on board; the data will be processed by radiologists and pulmonologists based at the HCL Lyon Sud Hospital. A summary report will then be sent to the patient's attending physician within 48 hours.
The truck will stop in the Rhône from August 25 to September 12 at the Groupama Stadium, near Lyon, and in Saint-Fons.
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