Kurdistan MoH: 6293 new cases of cancer had been registered during 2020

Shafaq News / The Minister of Health in Kurdistan Region, Saman Barzanji, announced on Thursday that more than 6000 new cancer cases were registered in the region during the past year.

Barzanji said in a press conference held today, "During 2020, more than 70 billion dinars were allocated to health and medical services provided to people with cancer in the Kurdistan Region, adding that most of those sums were allocated to buy an expensive and very important chemical medicine."

"Last year, the Ministry signed contracts to provide modern laser medical devices for treating cancer patients in the region, several of them have been provided in Erbil and al-Sulaymaniyah, and work is underway to reach a contract to supply Duhok with these devices.

The minister noted that the Kurdistan Region recorded 6293 new cases of cancer during the year 2020, indicating that nearly 30% of those are from central and southern regions of Iraq who come to the Kurdistan Region to receive the necessary medical treatment. We do not distinguish between citizens. We make sure everyone in the region has access to the appropriate treatment."

Concerning COVID-19, Barzanji said that the Ministry engaged in high-level dialogues and discussions with representatives of the AstraZeneca company to provide the COVID-19 vaccine, indicating that soon a contract will be signed with the company to secure the vaccine.