Tunisia reports over 12,000 cancer cases per year

Tunisian Minister of Health Abdellatif Makki said Saturday his country registered over 12,000 cancer cases annually. The figure includes 7,000 males and 5,000 females, he said in the inaugural speech to the annual day of the cancer patients' association (Association des Malades du Cancer or AMC) held in Tunis Science City under the title of "cancer and the quality of life. "The high prevalence rate of the fatal disease in the country arouses many suspicions about the changes in the lifestyle and the nutrition system as well as the environment pollution," the minister said. "Smoking remains atop of the causes of cancer," he said, noting that his ministry is working on tougher controls over smoking in public places, the tobacco sales promotions and protection of minors. Meanwhile, AMC Chairperson Rawda Zarrouq highlighted, in a press statement, the importance of prevention and early detection of cancer. "The suffering of cancer patients in Tunisia is coupled with the problems of drug procurement and movement to the capital city to receive chemical medication," she pointed out. Tunisia registers more than 2,000 breast cancer cases annually, she added. The conferees are scheduled to discuss several topics relating to prevention and treatment of colon and breast cancers as well as the obesity impacts on cancer patients.