National Healthcare Accreditation Board established

KABUL and consume vegetables and fruits for prevention of the deadly disease.

On the other hand, the creation of National Healthcare Accreditation Board (NHAB) was also announced today under the MoPH framework on the occasion of the World Cancer Day usually celebrated in the first week of February.

The World Cancer Day was celebrated in Kabul under the theme ‘Who I am and what I can do’.

Firozuddin Firoz, public health minister, speaking at the ceremony, said that around 30,000 to 40,000 people contracted cancer in Afghanistan in 2018 while 15,000 of them lost their lives to the disease.

He said cancer was the second deadly disease after heart diseases that took the lives of many people around the world.

More than 18 million people in 2018 were infected with different types of cancer around the world while 10 million of them lost their lives this year, he added.

Firoz said currently around 44 million people were affected by cancer globally and the disease mostly targeted people of less developed and poor countries.

The public health minister added that tobacco use, consuming polluted air and excessive surfing of oily foods were reasons behind cancer diseases.

He said breast cancer, throat cancer, stomach cancer and blood cancer were among 800 types of cancer that mostly infected people in Afghanistan.

The disease could be controlled by increasing cooperation on measures that halted the disease from spreading, creating awareness about its factors and early treatment, he added.

Firoz said some primary efforts had been made for diagnosing and treatment of cancer diseases, but they were not enough.

He voiced on the masses to engage in physical activities and sports and consume boiled foods, vegetables and fruits.

 A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on fighting against cancer was also signed between the MoPH and a singer, Aryana Sayeed, during the ceremony.

The public health minister said he chose Ayana Sayeed as ‘Goodwill ambassador for fighting cancer’ who would be providing public awareness through National Cancer Control Program of the ministry as a volunteer.

Sayeed said she would utilize all her efforts for providing awareness regarding controlling cancer diseases in the country.

Meanwhile, National Healthcare Accreditation Board (NHAB) was also established under the framework of MoPH today.

Firoz, while inaugurating the board, said the aim of creating the body was to boost quality of health services and standard.

He said all health activities in the country would be standardized in near future with the NHAB creation.

mds/ma