site.btaCancer Incidence in Bulgaria Doubled between 1996 and 2016

Sofia, February 4 (BTA) - The incidence of cancer in this country has nearly doubled over the last 20 years, from 178,000 cases or some 2,200 per 100,000 population in 1996 to 287,000 or over 4,000 per 100,000 population in 2016, according to figures released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) in connection with World Cancer Day, February 4.

By comparison, some 113,000 cancer cases were recorded in Bulgaria in 1980, or 1,200 per 100,000 population.

Of the 107,000-plus deaths recorded in this country in 2016, nearly 17,000 or 16 per cent were caused by cancer.

A combination of various factors of the environment, the human body and mental health may provoke a tumour, experts say. Still, they single out unhealthy eating, smoking and alcohol abuse as the principal risk factors of a malignant neoplasm.

The NSI says that nearly 35 per cent of Bulgarians aged 20 and older are overweight, 40 per cent of the men and 20 per cent of the women smoke daily, and some 10 per cent of the men or nearly 700,000 drink daily.