Epidemiology is a field of medicine that uses various health improvement approaches for disease prevention among which screening for an early detection of disease in a healthy asymptomatic population, stands out. Diseases for which screening can be justified are those that have a relatively long period from their onset to the appearance of symptoms, and for which there is an appropriate early detection test. Such screening tests or medical exams must meet the criteria of clinical validity, especially in terms of expected sensitivity and specificity, and must be safe for patients. For the positive patients detected by screening testing we must provide appropriate diagnostics and treatment, in order to achieve the ultimate goal, which is reducing mortality and improving the quality of life. In order for screening programs to be as effective as possible, we must enable and ensure the greatest possible response from individuals from the general population. The fact that circulatory system and malignant diseases are the most common causes of death in the European Union (EU), and that in 2020 there were 2.7 million new cancer cases and 1.3 million deaths due to these diseases in the EU, clearly shows the urgent need for implementation of screening programs in these fields. As a part of this master's thesis, we studied, presented and compared national screening programs for the early detection of colon cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer in two neighbouring countries, both members of the EU, the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia. We collected, processed, presented and compared the epidemiological data and evaluated the effectiveness of the above-mentioned screening programs. We found that there are certain differences in their organization and implementation, as well as the responsiveness of the invited general population, in the two countries. We also found that organized screening programs, compared to opportunistic ones, and their centralization have a positive effect on their impact.
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