onKOvid

Monitoring the Cancer Burden and the Treatment of Oncology Patients During the COVID-19 Epidemic in Slovenia

As the SARS-CoV2 virus emerged in China at the end of 2019 and reached Europe in 2020, individual countries took various measures to contain the spread of the infection, which, among other things, directly or indirectly affected the access to and delivery of health services.

Oncology is a field of healthcare that should be preserved in a functional state for as long as possible, even in the event of various emergencies, as the prognosis of cancer is closely linked to the earliest possible detection and treatment. While the Slovenian government took various restrictive measures related to COVID-19, oncology was an exception among healthcare activities and kept running as usual. During the first wave of the epidemic (March–May 2020), only cancer screening programmes were suspended. Despite oncology being an exception among the COVID-19 restrictive measures, various broader societal changes indirectly affected the access to and delivery of health services. You can read more about the course of the epidemic and related measures in Slovenia in the COVID-19 section.

At the Slovenian Cancer Registry, which has been operating at the Ljubljana Institute of Oncology since 1950, an analysis of oncological treatments was performed based on available data soon after the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic. There was a significant drop (around 30%) in the number of reported new cancer cases, as well as fewer cancer treatment referrals, treatments or examinations carried out (Zadnik et al, 2020). Because the epidemiological situation worsened again at the end of 2020, the ongoing monitoring of how COVID-19 affects Slovenian oncology was introduced. This is how the onKOvid platform came to life, presenting the latest updates and possible deviations, thus providing decision-makers with the information required to adapt measures as needed. For example, when the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic was declared, cancer screening programmes were treated as an exception in preventive healthcare and were not suspended. Rather, their implementation was adapted so that it was safe for both participants and providers.

OnKOvid presents selected indicators of the cancer burden and treatment of oncology patients in Slovenia compared to previous years. The data is public and is updated monthly. The website content may be used free of charge as long as the source is indicated. The operation of the website is supported by the targeted research project entitled The Impact of the COVID-19 Epidemic on Cancer Control in Slovenia (Vpliv epidemije COVID-19 na obvladovanje raka v Sloveniji (V3-2032)).

OnKOvid project was completed in december 2023. It contains data from the 2019-2023 period.

If you have any questions, please contact us at register@onko-i.si.


The content for onKOvid is provided by:
Slovenian Cancer Registry, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana
Prof Vesna Zadnik, MD, PhD, public health specialist
Tina Žagar, BSc, PhD, physicist
Nika Bric, MSc, graphical engineer
Sonja Tomšič, MD, public health specialist
Ana Mihor, MD, public health specialist
Katarina Lokar, BSc, RN, health education specialist
Katja Jarm, MD, public health specialist

Data processing and design:
Slovenian Cancer Registry, Institute of Oncology Ljubljana
Nika Bric, MSc, graphical engineer

Preferred citation style:
Zadnik V, Žagar T, Bric N, Tomšič S, Mihor A, Lokar K, Jarm K. onKOvid. Epidemiology and Cancer Registry. Institute of Oncology Ljubljana. www.slora.si/onKOvid (DD.MM.YYYY).