World Cancer Day celebrated annually on February 4 has made the theme of combating this terrible disease a central one in the discussions of this week at various levels. Events on this issue also took place in Uzbekistan. Here is what our correspondents have learned about them.
Mortality from cancer in Uzbekistan has decreased by 13 percent in 15 years, the National Cancer Research Center of the Ministry of Health reports. This dynamic was achieved by improving the prevention system in the early detection of cancer and the evolving network of medical institutions specializing in the field of oncology.
“In 2000, the death rate from cancer was 84.7 per 100 thousand people, and currently the figure is lower than 75 cases. The number of patients in whom the disease is detected at the first and second stages has increased from 30 % to more than 45 %,” stated the report occasioned to the World Cancer Day.
In the meanwhile, the World Cancer Treatment Forum stresses in its statement that “it is expected that the number of new cancer cases will double every year and by 2030 will reach 22 million in the world.” It will be a natural answer to the existing improvement in health and the early diagnosis of the disease. At the same time, further improvement in the quality of care remains as a genuine movement in the fight against the ailment.
Experts point out that Uzbekistan carries out extensive work to combat this syndrome. At the end of 2016, the country embarked on furnishing its oncological institutions with the latest equipment. For the first time in history all the clinics received modern CT scanners which have substantially improved the quality of diagnosis.
Retooling continues this year too. In particular, until the summer of 2017 there will received radiotherapy equipment, including the newest linear accelerator radiotherapy and brachytherapy installation. Cutting-edge histochemical analyzers will be installed at the Republican Specialized Cancer Center, as well as in Samarkand and Ferghana. They will enable to differentiate the initial nidus of tumor processes on even metastases and determine the sensitivity of the tumor to drugs. This acquisition will at times increase the accuracy of diagnosis and effectiveness of treatment.
According to experts, Uzbekistan has enough powerful human resources on cancer. There are specialists who leave behind the time in many aspects of preparation, because of that they study world literature and specialist periodicals, make internship in the leading clinics of the world. Only in the last year 30 employees of our country’s oncology service have visited to various foreign centers.
