Alarming over a thousand new cases of cancer in Kosovo in just 6 months

So says Ilir Kurtishi in an interview for Kosova Preess, director of the Oncology Clinic at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo, while showing that behind breast cancer, the most expressed is the lung, where in six months it has affected some 170 male patients.

Kurtishi points out that the challenge for the Onkolgi Clinic is the lack of middle staff, which indicates that only in the first half of this year, three nurses have migrated and that two others are under way with procedures to get out of the country for employment.

The data that we have right now and which we have in processing, turns out that for these six months we're about to have a roughly the same number as last year, since we have a little bit less and maybe a little more than last year. So about a thousand, 1,000 and 50 new cases identified with cancer of various species, and this year breast cancer. And there are about 225 women who have been identified with breast cancer and reported treatment at our clinic. It is followed immediately by lung disease in males and is about 170 patients identified with lung cancer. Meanwhile, behind these two frequent pathologys are the diseases of the gastroinsteinal system, and that number is, if we take it as a total disease of the total intestines, the pancreas, the liver, and the lungs and breast tumors... we have a slightly easier growth, perhaps for five percent. This year there was only one case of male breast cancer”, says Kurtishi.

Kurtishi points out that the large influx of patients to this clinic increases the need for increased nurses. He says relevant institutions have been announced in time for these needs, for which he hopes the replacements will be made as soon as possible.

The large number of patients attending the clinic causes work to be very tiresome, challenging, and to have a huge impact on the organisation of the entire procedure. Over the first six months, we had three nurses who migrated to the outside world and released their jobs. And this month, July, two more will continue their lives elsewhere and we have long announced it. QKUK and SHSKUK for our needs... have three nurses been replaced? Not since there's been a competition... we at the clinic have 24 nurses in the chemotherapy service and we have 13 radio therapy technicians”, Kurtish points out.

Meanwhile, to supply essential drugs, Kurtish says that they own over 90 percent of the drugs. He says that five more types of essential drugs, for which they have waited for several months, have been provided.

We stay very well with essential drugs. We have over 90 percent of the drugs on the essential list, maybe even more. With the arrival of several drugs that have been tendered by the US, drugs we've been waiting for a few months without marketing authorisation, 5 of them have already reached”, he says.

On May 20th of this year, renovation of the Oncology Clinic, the only centre in Kosovo for treating cancer-affected patients, investment of over half a million euros.