Worrying Increase in Cancer Statistics in Iran

On Tuesday, June 30, the Vice President of the Health and Treatment Commission of the Parliament criticized the fact that cancer is still not classified as a special disease for support by relevant authorities, referring to the "worrying increase in cancer statistics" in Iran. According to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Hossein Ghorbani stated: "Cancer imposes significant costs on the health sector, which can be controlled through public awareness." Although this parliament member described the Health Transformation Plan as effective in reducing treatment costs for the public, he added: "There are still patients who fall below the poverty line due to the chronic and costly nature of their illness because most of the treatment processes for these diseases occur in the private sector, which also imposes high costs on patients." He noted that "the medications for this disease are mostly foreign and expensive, while domestically produced drugs have yet to match the quality of foreign medications." The Vice President of the Health and Treatment Commission called for health insurance, especially health insurance, to take action and provide significant support for cancer patients so that all relevant institutions can work together to assist in preventive and therapeutic measures against cancer. Previously, Bahram Mofid, Vice President of the Iranian Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology, announced on Monday, June 29, that 400,000 people in Iran are suffering from cancer, adding: "Factors such as urbanization and lack of physical activity, air pollution, poor nutrition, consumption of sugar, soft drinks, and microwaving food can lead to cancer." According to the state-run IRNA news agency, he also stated: "About 85,000 new cancer cases are reported annually in Iran." Mofid added: "The country's medical centers are not very up-to-date in terms of advanced equipment, so it is necessary for these centers to provide the necessary equipment for better treatment of cancer patients." The Vice President of the Iranian Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology also mentioned prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers among men, stating: "This cancer is recognized as the second most common cancer in men in the US and Europe, while it ranks fourth in our country." Previously, Kazem Zanddel, advisor to the Deputy for Research and Technology of the Iranian Ministry of Health, announced in February 2017 that cancer-related deaths in the country amount to about 50,000 annually. Iraj Harirchi, Deputy Minister of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education, also announced last November at the West Asia Cancer Conference that the direct and indirect costs of cancer in Iran amount to "at least 10 trillion tomans per year." This Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education official stated that men in Iran are more likely to suffer from skin, stomach, prostate, bladder, and colorectal cancers, while women are more likely to develop breast, skin, colorectal, stomach, and blood cancers.