Tamara Milagre, president of the Association for Support of Genetic-Related Genes with Cancer - EVIT, said that the scenario “is now catastrophic” for these patients because “when the pandemic started, any non-covid patient went to the back of the line”.

“In oncology, there will be many late diagnoses. People are in panic. We made a great effort to hire a psychologist to consult with members”, said Tamar Milagre in an online seminar organised by Apifarma.

Before the pandemic, the waiting time for genetic tests that are used to try to prevent the risk of developing cancers of hereditary origin were already poor according to the association, involving “one year waiting for the first appointment, another year waiting for the test result, if it was performed within the National Health Service and then two years for preventive surgery. Four years is enough time for a person to get sick”, she said.

She warned that the suspension of medical services and activities scheduled to concentrate resources in combating the pandemic is "generating a mountain of diseases that would be potentially curable or preventable".