The culture of prevention — Interview with Francesco Schittulli

What was the world of medicine and the world of Italian politics for you?

Schittulli: Well, the world of medicine serves to cure people from a physical point of view, while politics should be there to take care of people in the social state but unfortunately no longer serves.

He was one of the most prestigious oncologists in Italy. These cancer cases when they happen and how can we defeat them?

Schittulli: Cancer is an environmental disease on the genetic basis; therefore we need to take care of our environment, that is, our world of living from the proper nutrition, from the fight to tobacco (to stop smoking); to regular physical activity and then to follow periodic examinations, because we know that most tumors are not only curable, but also healable.

They can be healed because we have a total inhumanity of more than 60% today, we can have more than 80% if we put in place everything that is at our disposal from the diagnostic and instrumental point of view. Hence, the importance of prevention begins. Prevention is essential to remove the development of this disease.

Many children, too, have tumors. How can parents stay close to their children not to die to live all the time?

Schittulli: The problem of children who have a destructive disease as destabilizing as cancer is a problem that also leads from a human point of view in a meaningful and profound way. This means that parents must from the moment they decide to put a human being to the world a child be responsible so much in following all the exams at our disposal that they can “prevent” the possibility of developing cancer.

We all know that cancer, I repeat, is an environmental disease on a genetic basis; therefore, sometimes several times, it is our genes that contribute to developing this disease. So it is necessary to check up before the wedding and then follow the woman the mother during the course in pregnancy and then at birth take care of these children. It is disappointing that a child is suffering from this disease: I believe, in my opinion, that there is a very deep existential crisis.

In his oncologist career, is there a particular moment of his life that wanted to help children and not only to defeat this evil that, unfortunately, is devastating us?

Schittulli: When I helped, as President of the League of the Lotta of Tumours, to create a pediatric pavilion at the Polyclinic in Bari. Then no one remembered and it was not this mentioned. But no matter this, because generosity must not have a name must be spontaneous without anyone contributing merit and meaning. Well then we managed to provide a sum of more than 250 thousand of the old liras for the construction of a more comfortable environment in the field of the Bari Polyclinic

Listen Professor, what's the difference between benign tumors and malignant tumors?

Schittulli: So malignant tumors are evasive, those tumors that give concern that we have to alarm ourselves. The more interesting the benign ones do not give any concern; they must be followed, they must be removed when it is possible to make sure that they cannot degenerate venting into cancer and therefore in malignant tumors, but nothing more; we must worry above all about the malignant ones.

Professor, besides being a great oncologist, our President of the Province of Bari, indeed the last President of our Province. Unfortunately we witnessed a few months ago, a very bad tragedy, the clash of trains in the Andria railway. According to sources of police and political world, this confrontation that has dealt with our region was an ISIS attack. In your opinion, how can you defeat terrorism?

Schittulli: ” Terrorism must be overcome above all with the “dialogue”, a continuous dialogue but also with what is missing in the human being, the fifth sense, that is, common sense. We must be able to talk, we must be able to communicate dialogue, we must give example. On the one hand, we must not say that we are opposed to any form of war and then, in various ways, there are instruments that favour war”.

Thank you so much Professor, who would like to thank you for your path as a doctor and the former President of the Province?

Schittulli: “But from the former President of the Province of Bari, indeed from the last former President of the Province of Bari, I would like to thank the humble people, the simple people, those who have come to find me who have always believed me that I have always tried to give answers within the limits of my possibility. As a doctor I would like to thank all women, because every day they teach me something to inspire the value of life.

As a project for the future, I would like to devote myself only and exclusively to the suffering and pain that unjustly affects women.”

I conclude this interview so significant and important, reporting one of the following answers given by Professor Schittulli: ” parents must, from the moment they decide, to put to the world a human being, a child, to follow all the exams at our disposal that can “prevent” the development of this bad disease”.

I also add that prevention is a just and meaningful act, because prevention helps not only children, but also adults, to overcome stimulating us in the battle against cancer.