Turkey, which spent a total of 2.5 million euros on cancer treatment last year,
is aiming to reduce future cancer cases by one-third and to increase the
recovery rate from 15 to 80 percent, with the Ministry of Health having already
drawn up a national program that includes free screening services and the
opening of early diagnosis and treatment centers in order to reach these aims.
The Health Ministry is hoping to increase public awareness of cancer by
designating the first week of this month as Cancer Week. As part of the program,
a symposium of medical experts is being hosted in Ankara to promote discussion
of all aspects of this disease.
Turkey is already in the middle of its fight against cancer, but it is aiming to
prevent at least three out of 10 future cancer cases within 10 years, increase
the recovery level for certain cancers, such as breast, throat and cervical
cancer, from 15 to 80 percent and reach a 70 percent figure for full recovery in
childhood cancers. It is also hoping to supply palliative treatment for all
cancer patients within five years. In the meantime, the Health Ministry wants to
increase public awareness about the causes of cancer, particularly the negative
effects of smoking. Turkey implemented a major anti-smoking law last year and is
also planning to introduce new restrictions on smoking in July. Lung cancer is
the most common type of cancer in Turkey due to widespread smoking. Out of every
100,000 Turkish citizens, 29.51 people have lung cancer and men are eight times
more at risk than women.
After lung cancer, the 10 most common types of cancers in Turkey (based on
frequency in 100,000 people) are as follows: prostate (19.39), breast (17.54),
skin (16.67), stomach (9.35) bladder (8.81), colon (7.24), leukemia (6.28),
endometrial (6.08) and ovarian (5.86).
Turkey should quit smoking
Professor Nazmi Bilir, from Hacettepe University’s public health department,
said that over the last 40 years the incidence of lung cancer has risen 4,300
percent because of smoking. “Between 1984, the year in which tobacco imports
were legalized, and 2000, the smoking rate increased by 80 percent. After
starting to implement rules on smoking, Western countries saw a sharp decrease
in lung cancer rates. We have been late in implementing such rules, but we are
hoping to get results in the future,” he explained.
Professor Murat Tuncer, head of the Ministry of Health’s anti-cancer department,
also stressed that despite all the efforts of the ministry and all the money
that has been spent, the best way to fight cancer is to increase public
awareness and get people to give up smoking.
He emphasized that one of the main aims of Turkey’s national program that was
praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the increase in the number of
centers that provide free screening services. These centers, which have been
established in every province in Turkey, are also trying to increase public
awareness about cancer and its causes. He added that in the next 15 years the
ministry is planning to open 54 cancer centers to deal with all aspects of the
disease.
He also underlined that Turkey is taking serious measures to address
environmental causes of cancer, such as arsenic, asbestos and erionite, which
present a significant problem in Turkey.
“In particular, due to our geological circumstances, natural asbestos occurrence
is encountered in more than 80 settlements in our 61 provinces and in some of
these settlements it poses a considerable threat to human life. An extensive
program has been initiated in order to prevent erosion and uninformed use of
land,” he said.
Source : AYSE KARABAT ANKARA
