MP says not enough importance given to early cancer diagnosis
NOT enough importance is being given to detecting cancer in its early stages, People’s Party (HP) MP Jale Refik Rogers has said
According to a statement issued by the HP, Ms Rogers said: “Instead of trying to treat existing diseases, it is of great importance to strengthen protective and preventive healthcare services and to protect public health through screening and early diagnosis.”
She explained that over the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns had caused people to stay away from hospitals, resulting in many patients receiving a delayed cancer diagnosis.
Noting that cancer ranks second among the causes of death in the world after cardiovascular diseases, and that early diagnosis studies for cancer should be accelerated, Ms Rogers said that in addition to the “pain and trauma” that cancer inflicts on patients and their relatives, it also causes “great losses to the state’s budget” due to a decreased workforce and high treatment costs.
Pointing out that cancer registration started in the TRNC in 2013, Ms Rogers said that cancer became a notifiable disease with the “Cancer Registration Law” passed in 2018.
“Despite the Cancer Registration Law, the notification network required to inform the Health Ministry of new cancer cases diagnosed at private hospitals and pathology laboratories has still not been set up,” she said.
“Currently, only the registrar can access this data if they physically go and collect it. It is necessary to establish a
network where every case will be reported to the ministry.
“Another problem related to cancer registration is that there is still no legal regulation for the recruitment of personnel to work in the Cancer Registry Department.
“Currently, registration continues only through one member of staff at the Help Those With Cancer Association.
“Since cancer registration is a very technical job and the training of personnel is difficult, it is important to establish permanent staff at the Health Ministry.”
Ms Rogers also asked to know how cancer data is being used. “Cancer registration is done in our country, statistics are presented at regular intervals. So as a country, what are we doing with this data?” she said.
“Patients have a much higher chance of completely surviving cancer if it is detected in the tissue before it spreads to other organs and is diagnosed and treated at its initial stage.
“However, while the cancer registry data in our country shows us what to do, it is obvious that the [Health] Ministry has not taken any steps in this regard.”