Not enough done to combat colon cancer

COLON cancer is the third most frequent  type of the disease in Cyprus as over 200 cases are recorded each year with only a 50 per cent survival rate, it emerged yesterday.

Speaking at a news conference to mark the European month for colon cancer, the chairwoman of the island’s cancer patients association Dr. Anna Ahilleoudi said more than 400,000 Europeans are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year with 212,000 dying from the disease.

Ahilleoudi stressed that colon cancer is treatable when diagnosed early.

“Colon cancer can be prevented, tackled and treated when it is diagnosed on time,” Ahilleoudi said. “We believe it is sad to lose lives due to ignorance or the absence of a suitable population monitoring program for this cancer.”

But despite a 2007 cabinet decision to implement such a programme by 2008, the state has not acted on this. “Unfortunately, the approval remains on paper,” Ahilleoudi said.

“Maybe the finance ministry has some answers for us for the non implementation of the cabinet decision, “she added. “The fact is that the social, human and financial cost of one case is incomparably higher than the cost of check-ups.”

The association said it was repeating its campaign to sensitise the public on prevention and early diagnosis as well as the health ministry as regards the implementation of a population monitoring programme.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.