This is the very first respiratory disease screening truck in France.

Pneumobile is the name of the first vehicle in France designed for screening for lung cancer as well as other respiratory diseases (emphysema, COPD, asthma, etc.). The Minister of Health, Yannick Neuder, has just inaugurated this mobile respiratory screening method, which is unprecedented in France, at the Hospices Civils de Lyon.

The aim of the truck, equipped with an on-board low-dose scanner and a spirometer, is to detect the first signs of respiratory illnesses as early as possible, such as lung cancer, which is responsible for around 30,000 deaths per year and is a deadly condition that does not yet benefit from organized screening at the national level, unlike colorectal, breast and cervical cancers.

Avoid 10,000 deaths per year

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It has been several years since this French delay is well known, other countries have already implemented organized screening. However, numerous studies have shown that in France, regular monitoring by low-dose CT scans could prevent 10,000 deaths per year. The National Cancer Institute's program Pulse (for "IMPLEMENTATION OF LUNG CANCER SCREENING BY POPULATION SCANNER" -, co-led by Professor Sébastien COURAUD, head of the pulmonology department at Lyon Sud Hospital and Professor Marie-Pierre REVEL (AP-HP), must finally start before the end of the year, but in the meantime, the truck based in Lyon will be able to operate in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, especially in what are called medical deserts.

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Preventing medical deserts

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The idea is simple: to reach out to the most disadvantaged populations to promote early diagnosis and optimize care, in short, to provide prevention. On board Pneumobile, a tobacco consultation carried out by a doctor or nurse and an assessment of cardiovascular risk factors (BMI calculation, blood pressure measurement, blood cholesterol), will be possible. The project took more than three years to set up, involving a large number of departments and professions Civil Hospices of Lyon.

To find out where and when you can take the test, and to find out if you are eligible, go to the website dedicated to mobile screening.