SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A Kurdistan parliament’s committee said on Tuesday that hundreds of people are diagnosed with cancer in the Kurdistan Region every day.
Member of the Committee of Health, Environment and Consumer Rights Galawezh Obeid read a report during a session of the Kurdistan Parliament regarding a surge in cancer infections in the Region.
At least 524 people are being diagnosed with cancer in the Kurdistan Region every month, the committee’s report said.
“The number of infection is very high comparing with the number of population, which is nearly 6 million now,” Obeid said.
She further said 90 percent of those diagnosed with cancer were residents of the Kurdistan Region and the other 10 percent were residents of southern Iraq.
“The most widespread type of cancer is lung cancer in men, followed by breast cancer in women,” Obeid added. “Kidney and blood cancers are in second and third place.”
In 2020, as many as 3,050 people were diagnosed with cancer in Erbil and 2,500 others were diagnosed in Sulaimani and Halabja, according to the report. Up to 700 cases of cancer were recorded in Duhok.
