November 6, Pozirk. New cancer diagnoses in Belarus exceeded the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, reaching 57,045 last year, according to the health ministry’s data.
In 2020, when Belarus was hit by Covid-19, the number of new cases fell by about 12,000 to some 43,000, most likely due to a significant decrease in cancer screenings during the pandemic and healthcare system strain.
Three years after the start of the pandemic, the cancer incidence rose from 469 to 620 cases per 100,000 people, Siarhiej Palakoŭ of the national oncology center has told journalists.
Cancer death rates have not decreased in the past two decades, remaining at 193 deaths per 100,000 people, he said, noting that the disease is not always detected early enough.
Palakoŭ praised the efficiency of Belarusian healthcare, as about 60 percent of cancer patients have been in remission for five or more years.
Belarusian men usually suffer from prostate cancer and women, from breast cancer.
