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Background: Cancer Registries (CRs) remain the gold standard for providing official epidemiological estimations. However, due to CRs' partial population coverage, hospitalization records might represent a valuable tool to provide additional information on cancer occurrence and expenditures at national/regional level for research purposes. The Epidemiology of Cancer in Italy (EPIKIT) study group has been built up, within the framework of the Civic Observers for Health and Environment: Initiative of Responsibility and Sustainability (COHEIRS) project under the auspices of the Europe for Citizens Program, to assess population health indicators. Objective: To assess the burden of all cancers in Italian children and adults. Methods: We analyzed National Hospitalization Records from 2001 to 2011. Based on social security numbers (anonymously treated), we have excluded from our analyses all re-hospitalizations of the same patients (n = 1,878,109) over the entire 11-year period in order to minimize the overlap between prevalent and incident cancer cases. To be more conservative, only data concerning the last five years (2007-2011) have been taken into account for final analyses. The absolute number of hospitalizations and standardized hospitalization rates (SHR) were computed for each Italian province by sex and age-groups (0-19 and 20-49). Results: The EPIKIT database included a total of 4,113,169 first hospital admissions due to main diagnoses of all tumors. The annual average number of hospital admissions due to cancer in Italy has been computed in 2362 and 43,141 hospitalizations in pediatric patients (0-19 years old) and adults (20-49 years old), respectively. Women accounted for the majority of cancer cases in adults aged 20-49. As expected, the big city of Rome presented the highest average annual number of pediatric cancers (n = 392, SHR = 9.9), followed by Naples (n = 378; SHR = 9.9) and Milan (n = 212; SHR = 7.3). However, when we look at SHR, minor cities (i.e., Imperia, Isernia and others) presented values >10 per 100,000, with only 10 or 20 cases per year. Similar figures are shown also for young adults aged 20-49. Conclusions: In addition to SHR, the absolute number of incident cancer cases represents a crucial piece of information for planning adequate healthcare services and assessing social alarm phenomena. Our findings call for specific risk assessment programs at local level (involving CRs) to search for causal relations with environmental exposures.

The human origin of climate change is an objective and incontrovertible matter of fact. The relationship of harmony and interconnection between the human species, other species and the Earth has broken down. Increasingly widespread environmental devastation, global warming and pollution-related diseases are signs of this breakdown. The anthropocentrism "of exploitation and not service", supported by a technocratic paradigm, is responsible for this situation, as we have read in the recent apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum in complete continuity with Encyclical Laudato si'. This means a technocratic paradigm that obsessively pursues neverending growth on a planet limited in resources and regenerative capacity. It is, therefore, urgent to assume an attitude of responsibility and intervention before it is too late, which must start with climate change: the planet's first emergency, among other emergencies. This appeal is addressed to every person living on the Earth and that we find in Laudate Deum which strongly reiterates the reasons for an ecological conversion, an apposition already present in Laudato si'. National and international institutions and the scientific community are called upon to concretely and urgently react to this appeal. The article reflects on the two documents relevant scientific and socio-economic aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Il Cesalpino is the property of Ordine Provinciale dei Medici Chirurghi e degli Odontoiatri di Arezzo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Global Warming is umbalancing every ecosystem. Nobody in the world can consider himself far from damages caused by climate changes. Italy too will pay important costs in terms of health loss, mortality and economical damages. Following art 5 of our Deontological Code as physicians we'll never stop working because ecosystems will be in balance and livable for future generations. Financial divestment from Oil and Gas societies in favour of those of renewable energy sources is a goal which involves also physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]