Building on the level of care provided by its existing cancer services, Belarus' Ministry of Health looks to strengthen its coordination and management of cancer control activities as well as its cancer screening programmes.
Dr Dmitry Pinevich, First Deputy Minister of Health, spoke ahead of an evaluation of the country's cancer control capacities, which will help guide future planning and expansion of cancer services. "While life expectancy is rising, we have to be prepared as a country for an increase in cancer cases," he said.
Conducted by the IAEA, through its Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), an "imPACT review" is usually the first step taken by an IAEA Member State in developing a national cancer control strategy. It forms one of a number of activities provided by the IAEA to assist a country plan and implement efforts to tackle its cancer burden.
The imPACT review team comprised of international cancer experts nominated by the IAEA, the World Health Organisation's Regional Office for Europe (WHO-EURO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The experts assessed all components of cancer control including registry, prevention and early detection, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. The role of civil society was also considered. The evaluation took place with a broad range of public and private, urban and rural health care and civil society institutions in the capital, Minsk, as well as in Vilejka (in the North) and Grodno (in the West).
The team found impressively high standards in the delivery of cancer services. Although, despite having well-run and well-equipped facilities, cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the country after cardiovascular diseases, which can be partially attributed to the comparatively high consumption of tobacco and alcohol.
The experts made a number of recommendations, including strengthening the effectiveness of current cancer screening programmes and improving public awareness of cancer, which coincidences with a €1 million grant for breast cancer screening recently awarded by the EU. Improving the coordination and communication between different areas of cancer control were also highlighted as a priority.
Professor Oleg Sukonko, Director of the N Aleksandrov National Cancer Centre, reinforced this saying, "we need greater collaboration between our cancer control facilities and programmes to increase the effectiveness of the services."
While Belarus provides high quality diagnostic and treatment services with committed medical staff, more needs to be done, according to Dr Egor Zaitsev, the Head of WHO Country Office in Belarus. "This disease is a persistent issue with lung and breast cancers topping the list of most common types, with the highest rates of cancer deaths. It is very important for Belarus to strengthen tobacco and alcohol control," he added.
PACT specifically offers a variety of services including capacity building and training for cancer control specialists, and mobilizes resources to support the expansion of cancer services in IAEA Member States.