08 August 2007, 01:26
Rapid growth of oncology patients observed in Chechnya in recent years
Every year, up to one thousand persons die in Chechnya from different types of oncology diseases. In the opinion of physicians, for lack of a specialized clinic in Chechnya, it is practically impossible to detect oncology patients at early disease phases, thus depriving them of any chance to survive.
"The situation with oncology diseases in the Republic can be termed as critical," an employee of the Chechen Ministry of Public Health told in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "We have over 8,000 officially registered oncology patients, but in reality the figure can reach at least 30,000."
In the words of the official, the cancer morbidity rate in Chechnya is twice as high as in other Russian regions: "Every year we have over 2,500 new oncology patients. Today, Chechnya has 320 patients of this category per 100,000 of population."
Last week the Government of Chechnya passed a statement on measures aimed to restore and further develop the oncology service of the Chechen Republic. For counteracting oncology diseases, it is planned to allot 600 million roubles, of them over 250 million will be provided from the Republic's budget.
Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent
