Speakers at an event said that about 150,000 people suffer from cancer every year in the country, and currently, 60,000 cancer patients receive treatment.
He said that 80 percent of cancer medicines are manufactured in the country, but discrimination continues regarding cancer treatment.
The discussants made these comments at a roundtable titled “Bangladesh’s Progress in Cancer Treatment and Solutions” at the Prothom Alo office in Caravan Bazaar on Tuesday.
Prothom Alo in collaboration with Everest Pharmaceuticals organized the event, which was attended by renowned cancer experts of the country, to mark the World Cancer Day observed on 4th February.
At the beginning of the program, Bangladesh Cancer Society Director Professor MA Hai said that discrimination in cancer treatment exists everywhere – rural-urban, men-women, rich-poor, government-private hospitals. He said that no significant progress is visible towards ending this discrimination and the National Cancer Control Council exists only on paper.
Professor Morraf Hossein, former director of the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH), said physicians once treated cancer patients with chemotherapy in their chambers. As many patients began vomiting as a side effect, other waiting patients fled the physicians’ chamber out of fear. However, the situation has changed, he said.