BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The percentage of cancer patients in Brunei increased by 17 percent in the period of 2014-2018 when compared to the period of 2009-2013, the local daily Borneo Bulletin reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Brunei's Minister of Health Mohammad Isham told a press conference that in 2018, a total of 644 citizens and permanent residents of Brunei were diagnosed with cancer, and the cancer mortality rate that year was 304, representing 19 percent of the overall causes of death in the country.
The health minister said his ministry has commenced a Colorectal Cancer and Breast Cancer Screening Programme, as a follow-up to the National Health Screening Programme that was introduced this year to help early detection of cancer and heart disease.
The minister also said the lifetime risk of developing cancer among locals in Brunei is 27 percent for men and 29 percent for women.
In 2018, the main type of cancer among men was colorectal cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and liver cancer, while breast cancer is the highest type of cancer among women, followed by colorectal cancer and cervical cancer.
