In just over four hours, the Portuguese Association for the Fight Against Lung Cancer brought together around 300 people at the Arena Pulmonale to play 150 table football matches representing the “screening team”.
Installed next to the Fonte Luminosa on Alameda D. Afonso Henriques, in Lisbon, this Instagrammable action served to raise awareness among the population about the need to implement lung cancer screening, to whom more than 1,500 stickers were distributed to spread the message #Eu QuerooRastreio do lung cancer.
The challenge was simple: play a table football match on behalf of the screening team, against the lung cancer duo. As predicted, the guests won, and 300 people passed through the Arena Pulmonale to show their support for the cause.
All visitors were invited to take photos on the #EuQuerooRastreio wall, where phrases such as “Thank you for playing on the screening team”, “Continue to support this cause” or “One day, lung cancer screening will be a reality in Portugal”, then sharing the results on their social networks.
“We are frankly satisfied with the success of this action” begins by explaining Isabel Magalhães, president of Pulmonale. “We aimed to reach the population in an impactful way and the numbers speak for themselves: 300 players in just over 4 hours and 150 matches played” he continues.
Lung cancer is the cancer that kills the most in our country, along with what happens in the rest of Europe. In 2020, 5,415 Portuguese people were diagnosed with lung cancer. In the same year, 4797 people died from the disease, equivalent to 15 diagnoses and 13 deaths daily.
With this action, Pulmonale intends to raise awareness among the population of the importance of establishing population screening. “When compared to other neoplasms, lung cancer continues to have a very low survival rate. Furthermore, survival to advanced stages is much lower than predicted when the disease is detected early. It is, therefore, essential to focus on screening, promoting early diagnosis as a way of reducing mortality from lung cancer”, concludes Isabel Magalhães.
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