Muscat – The Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the National Cancer Registry at the Department of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Directorate General of Primary Health Care, has published the latest cancer statistics in the Sultanate of Oman for the year 2019, where the total number of diagnosed cases reached 2,307.
It is worth noting that this number includes 2,307 Omanis and non-Omanis, and the number of Omanis infected with cancer was 2,089, compared to 200 expatriates.
As per the report, there were also 18 cases of incipient tumors.
Cancerous diseases are the third cause of death in hospitals after respiratory diseases with hearth related diseases at the top.
The number of Omani women diagnosed with cancer is more at 1,158 (55.43%), compared to 931 (44.57%).
A total of 124 cases of cancer were reported among children under the age of 14 years.
It may be noted that the average age at the time of diagnosis is 54 – 60 years for men and 50 years for women.
As per the raw data, statistics have shown that the rate of cancer among Omanis is 69.6 per 100,000 males and 87.9 per 100,000 females.
The global average according to the standard world is 113.6 per 100,000 male Omanis and 122.4 per 100,000 per female Omanis.
Breast cancer still ranks first among all cancers in general and among women in particular, as the number of infected patients has reached 350, and 31 percent are diagnosed in the third and fourth stages.
Thyroid cancer is also ranked second among all cancers among both sexes and among females as well.
The National Cancer Registry in the Sultanate of Oman began recording cancer cases, first as a registry to be used in hospitals in 1985 and as a population-based registry from 1996.
The registry collects and records data for cancer patients from various data sources throughout the Sultanate.
The National Cancer Registry issues an annual report containing the most important data collected, in line with international standards, such as those of the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The National Cancer Registry has many aspects of cooperation with local, international, and regional associations and organizations concerned with cancer registration.
The importance of having a national cancer registry lies in the presence of a database that is used as a reference for research and educational purposes by researchers and decision-makers.
