Sarrebourg. Six days of screenings in the mobile teleconsultation office: slots booked up

Do you have a suspicious mole, a skin growth that worries you, or recently appeared spots? With the warmer weather, lighter clothing, and the sun shining brightly, it's time to start preventing skin cancer.

Thirty-two residents of the Pays de Sarrebourg region were examined free of charge by nurse Anne Oberlé in the telemedicine van parked at the Terrasse Normandie in Sarrebourg on Monday, May 19. These patients, aged 20 to over 80, from Sarrebourg and surrounding villages (Hommarting, Walscheid, Troisfontaines, Hermelange, Réding, Bickenholtz, Saint-Georges, etc.), had made appointments by phone. Other consultation days are already fully booked, on May 27 in Mittelbronn and June 6 in Sarrebourg.

This program is supported by the inter-municipal authorities of Sarrebourg Moselle-Sud and Pays de Phalsbourg as part of the local health contract. Another screening for cardiovascular diseases, open to people aged 45 to 70, is scheduled: June 10 in Mittelbronn, and June 19 and 25 at Terrasse Normandie in Sarrebourg. There are still a few slots available (tel. 01 59 13 37 54).

Agnès, 68, was alerted to the campaign by her daughter. "She spotted it on social media. Since I hadn't seen a dermatologist for two or three years, I seized the opportunity," says the Sarrebourg resident.

Christine, 46, from Sarrebourg, traveled by bike for her appointment at the mobile clinic. "There are no more dermatologists in Sarrebourg; we have to go to Dieuze or Alsace. And we have to wait six months for an appointment. As summer approaches, we undress, we expose ourselves, and we inevitably think about skin cancer screening. My husband also made an appointment because he has questions about a mole."

Photographs of the lesions are sent to a partner dermatologist in Alsace and patients will receive the results within three weeks, by email, post and from their treating physicians.

Originally, this truck was supposed to crisscross villages for general medicine teleconsultations with a nurse on board. "We are not a territorially coordinated organization like a health center. We need to have approval, and it must be supported by medical authorities. We are currently looking; we have some leads. We hope to launch this mobile practice to provide general medicine this year," say Roland Klein and Christian Untereiner, presidents of the inter-municipal authorities.