The director of the National Health Insurance (Senasa), Santiago Hazim says there were 21,173 cases of cancer diagnosed among the insurance holders in 2022. Senasa is the government insurance issued and the one that has the most low-income affiliates.
12,130 women and 9,047 men were diagnosed with cancer. He said Senasa invested RD$4.2 billion in health services for those with cancer.
Dr. Hazim said breast cancer was the most frequent. Next frequent was prostate cancer. He urged people to get preventive checkups – mammography for women and prostate-specific antigen test for men or a digital rectal exam.
Other frequent cancers are colon cancer, cervical cancer and skin cancer.
The physician said early detection increases the patient’s survival.
Hazim pointed out that Senasa’s network of service providers has 168 independent doctors, specialists in oncology, including oncology surgeons and gynecologists, and 26 centers specialized in oncology services, both public and private, distributed nationwide.
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Diario Libre
6 February 2023