500 people die each year .. Cancer ravages the south of Iraq

He sits alone in a popular cafe in Dhi Qar (south of Iraq), smokes a lot and speaks to himself with indifference. I was thinking of the last piece of household he had sold to meet his wife's needs for cancer treatment after months of exams between doctors and hospitals.

Karim Sabah, a 54-year-old civil servant, said that he was disappointed after submitting his retirement papers more than a year ago to devote himself to following up on his wife's case, suffering from 39, a cancer, traveling between several provinces in search of a glimmer of hope for his recovery. Bad health of Iraq in general.

Sabah does not prefer to talk about the illness of his wife, there is a widespread social vision in society that prefers not to mention cancer and, in general, there is a blackout on who gets it.

But the man reveals his suffering in the health facilities, the persistent exhaustion and frustration of the services, the illness and the inability to continue the treatment, having almost sold everything at his home to offer the value of expensive chemical potions.

Regarding why he did not go abroad, Sabah said his physical condition was not helping him despite the deteriorating health conditions in Iraq.

Blood donation campaign at the Cancer Oncology Center (Al Jazeera Net)

Statistics
According to the latest statistics from the Cancer Cancer Center of Dhi Qar Province, the number of cancer cases recorded since 2012 in the province of Dhi Qar is 4250, with an incidence of up to 900 per year and a number of deaths of about 500, according to the deputy director of the center of the Ministry of Health, Dhi Qar. Razzak for the island Net.

"These figures are not definitive," Abdul Razzaq said. "There are unregistered cases, there are hundreds of cases that prefer treatment outside the country.

In the face of the spread of the disease, a Turkish hospital is expected to open a new specialized center soon, and a Kuwaiti grant for the creation of a large independent specialized center will be supplemented by sufficient funds, said the Committee member. health Ghayeb Amiri, Al Jazeera Net.

Cancer Center seeks to spread hope (Al Jazeera Net)

Hope Campaign
While health facilities are in tune with the increasing number of cancer patients, doctors and activists have launched a charity campaign called Amal to provide medication.

The campaign has provided the cancer cancer center with thousands of medicines over a period of more than two years, said Dr Mazen Al-Hamdani, Campaign Manager, Al-Jazeera Net Network.The campaign aimed to bridge the gap between the large number of people with cancer and the lack of drugs.

In 2018, the Health Committee of the Provincial Council of Dhi Qar revealed a significant increase in bad cancer among women, while environmental pollution and radiation, pollution of the environment, Water and war were one of the main causes of this increase.

The information provided by the Ministry of the Environment – before being merged with the Ministry of Health in 2015 – indicate the existence of nearly 300 contaminated sites throughout the Iraqi territory , including 63 military sites in Baghdad, Mosul and several southern provinces.