Cancer Cases Rise in Albania

Cancer cases rise in Albania

TIRANA, April 23 (Xinhua) — The number of diagnosed cancer cases in Albania has surged in the past two decades, requiring urgent efforts to slow the upward trend, local media reported on Wednesday.

More than 4,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year, up from around 2,800 in 1990, and cancer has now become the second biggest killer in Albania. Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death.

Albanian health specialists say lifestyles connected to food, smoking, pollution, lack of physical activity, stress and other factors have significantly increased the risk factors.

More than two-thirds of cancer cases in Albania are diagnosed too late for effective treatment and Palliative care services are also extremely limited. Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have helped Albanian authorities draft a national cancer control program to serve the small country’s population of 3.6 million people, IAEA has said in a press release.

The IAEA said it is also providing expertise and equipment and facilitating training to the country in fields such as radiation oncology through its Program of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT).

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