Cancer Rising

Currently, 400,000 Iranians (one in 200 people) suffer from a type of cancer, and annually 85,000 new cancer cases are identified in the country, said Bahram Mofid, deputy head of the Iranian Society of Radiation and Oncology (ISRO). “Health pollution, unhealthy diet habits, excessive consumption of red meat, sugar and carbonated drinks, heating food in microwave, lack of physical activity, and low fruit and vegetable intake are among the most important causes of high rates of cancer in the country,” Salamat News quoted him as saying. Many of the latest cancer treatment facilities are not available in the country and modern facilities like new radiotherapy equipment need to be set up in hospitals, he added.