The WHO warned 10 years ago that cancer would become a big problem

Ariel Amaru, doctor who works with cancer patients

Fides Oncology Center director Ariel Amaru said Bolivia was suffering the consequences of not adopting anti-cancer measures, while the World Health Organization (WHO) warned more than ten years that this pathology It will be a big problem.

"Cancer will continue to increase, it is the disease of this century, and this increase will be the biggest social crisis, and this social crisis is due to the fact that our country is not a been able to adequately prevent, the World Health Organization warned all countries more than 10 years ago, that cancer was going to be a huge problem, many have adopted measures, we have ignored them and we are living the consequences, "he said.

Amaru, a specialist in oncohaematology, considers that Bolivia is becoming an island in South America because it is the longest delay in the field of cancer.

On the other hand, he says that in Latin America, important steps are being taken. I mention the case of Uruguay, where more advanced cancer treatments begin, "the same thing with Per, Brazil is an example, but Bolivia becomes an island in South America."

Apunt that we are the only country where the patient has to pay for treatment, where "the drugs are the most expensive in the area, we are the only ones who do not have any regulations, protocols."

Note that nowadays the treatment of cancer is not improvised, because everything is written, "if a patient has a type of cancer, a protocol is established, but in our environment it is not not the case."

"A health fund makes a protocol, another because it can not access a specific protocol treatment, and that makes the results are not the same, there is no statistics, there is no database. "

Amaru points out that there is still much to be done in the country on the cancer problem, where prevention should be fundamental". you will be able to detect the type of cancer, the less expensive it is and the best results will be achieved. "

PATIENTS WITH CNCER

In recent weeks, the representative of the Association of People with Disease Cancer, Rosario Calle, has informed that To date, 78 cancer patients who have visited the hospital of Clnicas de La Paz, after the closure of the radiotherapy unit of this hospital, have been reported. Of these, at least 10 patients are in critical condition and their lives are at risk because of the long wait to receive treatment.

Indicated that among the 10 "critical" patients, three were referred to the Bolivian Institute of Oncology and Radiotherapy (IBRO) of El Alto, due to complications of their health in the absence of treatments, however, there are seven other Delicate patients who come to the radiotherapy daily from the Miraflores Hospital with the hope of attracting the & # 39; Warning.