Tracking in Porto intends to sensitize the population for care with the voice

The National Screening of the Artistic Voice will be held, from Thursday, in Porto, with the objective of “sensitizing the artists for the care and importance of the voice”, revealed the vice president of GDA – Management of Rights of the Artists.

Luís Sampaio explained that the screening, which goes on October 18, 19 and 20 by Carvalhosa’s Personalized Health Care Unit in Porto, despite being “directed to the artistic community” is also “open to the entire population and other professionals who use voice as a working tool “.

“Voice is the main instrument for many of us, so this screening is also important for a significant part of our population. That’s why it seemed useful to us to join it to the community and hence, be open day also to the population in general, “he said.

In order to provide “the possibility for artists to have access to specific and differentiated healthcare”, the screening, which has the support of the Ministry of Health and the Voice Unit of the Egas Moniz Hospital – Hospital Center of Western Lisbon, allows “early detection of diseases of the vocal apparatus,” as well as “refer professionals to specialists to help them protect the voice.”

“Unfortunately, we are not very careful about the voice because we are also not attentive to the care we must have, and this screening also has that objective, to draw attention and raise awareness of its importance,” he said.

According to Luís Sampaio, screening is “equally important for smokers,” since it allows for “timely detection” and enables a “successful intervention” of problems such as laryngeal cancer.

“We’ve had cases in this briefcase that have had the sad news that they had cancer, but it turns out to be good news because if they had not been screened, this could be fatal,” he said.

The National Tracking of the Artistic Voice began on April 16, 2017 and has since passed through the primary health units of the district of Vila Real, Bragança, Beja, Portalegre, Faro, Évora, Setúbal, Santarém, Leiria and Viana do Castelo. According to the vice-president of the GDA, he left “a trail of awareness among professionals and health officials.”

“On average, from the districts we went through, we were able to do 70 exams and had different types of results, from artists who got to know their vocal system better, to people who detected anomalies but who were able to correct their problems in a timely manner. , it is fundamental to promote the voice culture, since it is a unique brand and that is what distinguishes us and is part of our personality, “added Luís Sampaio.