Global General

Cancer becomes second death cause in Cuba

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-08 09:49

HAVANA - Cancer has become the second death cause in Cuba after the cardiovascular disease, local daily Juventud Rebelde reported on Sunday, citing Cuban sanitary sources.

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Teresa Romero, director of the Integral Program to Control Cancer, said that despite the control actions "the incidence and mortality" of this disease continue increasing.

Cancer has been the second death cause in Cuba since 1970, according to a report of the Integral Program for Cancer Control.

In 2009, Cuba registered 21,316 deaths because of cancer. In the hospitals of Havana, Villa Calra, Sancti Spiritus, Cienfuegos, Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo provinces, cancer is the main death cause.

Romero said that since 1969 the Cuban health system has carried out actions to reduce cancer's mortality, and there have been achievements in the regulation mechanisms and information elements to control cancer.