In response to the EC recommendation on strengthening cancer prevention through early detection (European Commission, 2022) and upon the approval of the Health Insurance Board, from November 2023 some of Lithuanian residents started receiving personal invitations (via mail, email, and SMS) for cervical and breast cancer screening through a new centralized recall service. From November 2024 the pilot has been extended to colorectal cancer screening (Ministry of Health, 2024). By the end of 2024, about 39 000 people received personal invitations. At the same time, screening service for cervical cancer has been available through 37 providers participating in the pilot project, and mammography through 9 providers, while a home kit for colorectal cancer screening is sent by post via pre-paid envelope and analyzed in one of the two national centres running the pilot (Ministry of Health, 2018). From January 2025 the target group for breast cancer screening every two years is extended from women aged 50–69 to women aged 45–74. The eligibility criteria for the other two screening programmes remain the same – women aged 25–59 for cervical cancer (every 3–5 years) and all people aged 50–74 every 2 years for colorectal cancer. It is planned that from 2026 the centrally managed cancer screening invitation programme will be expanded nationwide.
While cancer screening programmes for eligible population groups are available from early 2000s for cervical and breast cancer screening, and from 2009 for colorectal cancer screening, the uptake has historically been relatively low, and further deteriorated during the pandemic (OBS/OECD, 2023). Prior to the pilot, in 2023 uptake was 19% for cervical cancer screening, 26% for breast cancer screening, and 27% for colorectal cancer (NHIF, 2024). While pilot results are not yet available, it is expected that nationwide rollout of the centralized recall system and expansion of providers participating in the screening will improve access to cancer screening.