ZAGREB, February 3, 2019 – In Croatia, about 23,000 patients are diagnosed with cancer annually, and this disease takes 11,000 lives in the country every year. The findings of a global survey, which were published last year, show that the cancer survival rates in Croatia were in the lower half of the ranking that includes European countries. The survey covered about 220,000 patients in Croatia.
The data about the five-year survival rates for 15 types of cancers in adults and three in children show Croatia’s poor performance when it comes to five types.
Thus, Croatia’s lung cancer survival rate is a mere 10%, survival prostate rate stands at 81%, stomach 20%, colon 51%, rectal cancer 48% and myeloid leukaemia in adults 32%.
Furthermore, the country’s breast cancer survival rate is 79%, melanoma of skin 77%, and cervical cancer 63%.
On the other hand, when it comes to children diagnosed with cancer, the survival rates are on a par with developed European countries. In Croatia, overall survival rates for children with lymphoma stands at 95%, brain tumours 73% and acute myeloid leukaemia 85%.
Croatia can improve the performance with progress in early diagnosis and treatment of cancers. In the same vein, Croatians are encouraged more and more to undergo cancer screening, which helps to detect cancer before symptoms appear.
Croatia’s Croatian League Against Cancer is a member of the Union for International Cancer Control’s (UICC) that organises campaigns on 4 February to raise the awareness of importance of cancer research, prevention of that disease and of raising awareness and mobilising the global community to make progress against cancer.
The main slogan for this year’s World Cancer Day is “I am and I will”.
“2019 marks the launch of the 3-year ‘I Am and I Will’ campaign. ‘I Am and I Will’ is an empowering call-to-action urging for personal commitment and represents the power of individual action taken now to impact the future,” says that international organisation.
In 2018, 18 million new cases of cancer were detected, and 9.6 million cancer-related deaths were registered.
World Cancer Day was established on 4 February 2000 at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium in Paris.
More news on the health issues in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.
