ASTANA – The Kazakh Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology has prepared a 35 billion tenge (US$93.88 million) action plan to reduce cancer mortality rates for the next year, Director of the institute Dilyara Kaidarova told the recent Innovations in Healthcare forum.
Photo credit: radiationnation.com.
The comprehensive plan to fight cancer includes the purchase of innovative equipment, some types of which are not yet available in the country.
The institute plans to update all radiotherapy technology in country’s regions, to allow doctors to use more modern methods. All patients will be able to receive treatment free of charge.
Some of the plan’s funds will be allocated to install equipment for proton therapy at Astana’s new oncology centre. The therapy is one of the most progressive and safest treatment methods. Surgeons use the method most often to treat cancers of the brain and cornea in children. According to Kaidarova, there are 57 such centres worldwide.
“Now, within our institute at Nazarbayev University, we are conducting a large scientific study on the identification of gene mutations that contribute to the development of cancer in the Kazakh population, because Kazakhs have certain types of cancer that are not the same as in Europeans or Americans,” she said.
Minister of Healthcare Yelzhan Birtanov said changes are also underway in the care system for patients with cancer.
“We are rebuilding the entire system of oncological care. Today, there is a gradual shift to early detection and diagnosis of cancer based on screening research and high-tech detection methods, including laboratory detection,” said Birtanov.
Over 10 years, the death rate from cancer has decreased by 1.5 times in Kazakhstan.
According to screening data, Kazakhs suffer more often from breast, lung and colorectal cancer.
