16,000 people died of cancer in Afghanistan last year: MoPH

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Thursday said 23,000 people in Afghanistan were diagnosed with cancer in 2020 during which 16,000 of them have lost their lives to the disease.

Addressing a ceremony marking World Cancer Day, deputy public health minister, Dr. Bashir Noormal, said that 23,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in Afghanistan in 2020 according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

He said that 16,000 of those diagnosed with the disease had been died last year.

He called cancer as the second major cause of death after heart related diseases in the world and said that 10 million people were died of the disease globally in 2020.

Currently 44 million people are diagnosed with the disease in the world, Noormal added.

Limited physical activity, obesity, consuming unhealthy food, using drugs particularly tobacco and alcohol, poverty, pollution and some issues are the causes of blood cancer, he said.

He added that MoPH was committed to extend cancer treatment and diagnosis service to all provinces of the country. This service is currently available in the capitals of Kabul, Herat and Balkh provinces, Noormal said.

He said that the ministry was also committed to nationally implement programs and policies regarding cancer so the public awareness spread to all the people about the deadly disease.

Dr. Nasrin Oryakhel, head of Afghanistan Medical Council and director of a cancer control magazine, talking to the meeting, said that her organization was able to create a cancer treatment and diagnosis center in Jamhoriat Hospital in Kabul, hold public awareness program in four zones of the country and sign MoUs for exchange of experiences and capacity building with Greece, Jordan and South Korea.

She asked the public health ministry to pay special attention for developing a policy for cancer control and expand the disease’s treatment and diagnosis service in other parts of the country.

mds