Date Published: 04/02/2020
ARCHIVED - Murcia achieved the lowest cancer death rate in Spain last year
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Cancer of the colon is the most common form of the disease both in Murcia and in Spain
Figures published on Monday prior to World Cancer Day on Tuesday show that the number of deaths caused by the disease in the Region of Murcia last year was 2,765, while the rate of 185 per 100,000 inhabitants was the lowest in the 17 regions of Spain.
At the same time, the rate of 503 new cases detected in 2019 per 100,000 inhabitants (a total of 7,515) is also significantly lower than the figure for the whole of Spain (586), and Fernando López Miras, the president of the regional government, commented that the advances made by researchers have allowed great progress to be made in the fight against the disease. Sr López Miras also praised the campaigns to increase public awareness, the tireless support given by relatives of those diagnosed and the contributions of the health professionals who confront the disease as part of their daily lives.
On Monday the president visited the Breast Cancer unit at the Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca in El Palmar, where a new psychology service is being introduced in collaboration with the AECC cancer research charity organization. This addition to the facilities at the Arrixaca will operate alongside the already existing help provided to women whose emotional wellbeing is affected by the diagnosis and treatment of the condition.
Around 300 people a year are treated in the Breast Cancer Unit and the new addition to the staff is a psychologist associated with the AECC.
At the same time, though, Fernando López Miras remarked that the low figures in the Region of Murcia are also a reflection of the policy that prevention is the best form of treatment.
As in the rest of Spain, the commonest forms of cancer in Murcia are manifestations of the disease in the colon, the breast, the prostate and the lungs. For men prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed condition and for women the list is headed by breast cancer, with the frequency rates for the two sexes last year being measured at 692 and 485 respectively per 100,000 inhabitants.
The data also show that last year the regional health service spent approximately 61 million euros on oncological medicine following an increase of almost 20 per cent, and a further rise of 6 per cent is predicted in 2020.
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