Eighty thousand cancer patients diagnosed in Hungary annually

Budapest, April 10 – Eighty thousand new cases of cancer a year are diagnosed in Hungary, thirty thousand of which end fatally, daily Világgazdaság said on Monday.

Citing data of the national health insurance fund (NEAK) on the occasion of National Cancer Awareness Day, the daily said that three forms of cancer are among the ten illnesses with the largest impact on the central budget. Leukaemia, cancerous illnesses of the digestive tract and breast cancer cost the country a total of 175 billion forints (EUR 564.4m) a year, the paper said.

Although most forms of cancer are curable when treated from an early stage, merely 30-40 percent of Hungarians go to regular screenings, it said.

National Cancer Awareness Day has been held in Hungary on April 10 since 1993.

Source: MTI