May: a month to raise awareness against cancer
- Written by Lourdes Pichs Rodríguez
- Published in Health
- Hits: 1061
In Holguín, non-transmissible diseases, especially cancer, are the second leading cause of death, for that very reason May is dedicated to raising awareness about different types of cancer.
For example, May 8 is World ovarian cancer (May 8), melanoma (May 23), and World No Tobacco Day (May 31), since smoking is one of the main causes of NCDs, including malignant tumors.
Prevention and early detection are key to reducing mortality, and the Holguín Territorial Oncology Center, inaugurated in 2009, provides specialized care with over 40 specialists and serves thousands of patients annually.
Despite educational campaigns, this eastern province remains the second with the highest cancer cases in Cuba, notably breast, prostate, lung, and cervical cancers, with an increase in 2024 in several municipalities such as Gibara and Banes. Emphasis is placed on the importance of consulting a doctor at any sign of bodily changes for timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
The institution, inaugurated in 2009 and attached to the Vladimir Ilich Lenin University General Hospital, has 10 functional units for patient care and more than 40 specialists, in addition to nursing staff, technicians and engineers, who each year attend more than 50 thousand patients in outpatient care and about 10 thousand in the radiotherapy service, among other activities, such as surgery.
