TEHRAN – Some 50 mammography clinics and early cancer detection centers will be opened at universities of medical sciences nationwide over the next few months, an official with the Ministry of Health has said.

One of the main goals of these centers is the offering of treatment to the patients suffering from refractory and special diseases, Fars quoted Mehdi Shadnoosh as saying on Wednesday.

A comprehensive network of special diseases care centers will be established, aiming at providing access to treatment, medicine delivery, dental care services, rehabilitation and injections, he said.

Some 50 mammography clinics and early cancer detection centers will operate in 40 universities of medical sciences across the country, he added.

He went on to say that some 12 clinical guidelines on cancer have also been prepared in collaboration with the insurance companies, which has already reduced the average cost of medicine use by 8 percent.

Earlier in June, Ali Motlaq, head of cancer department at the Ministry of Health said that cancer is increased in Iran by a rate of 177 per 100,000 and 140 per 100,000 among males and females, respectively, and some 112,000 Iranians are diagnosed with cancer annually.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and was responsible for 8.8 million deaths in 2015. Approximately 70% of deaths from cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries.

FB/MQ/MG