VICTORIA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cancer accounts for 16 percent of deaths in Seychelles, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the island country said Tuesday.
Official figures coming from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that cancer accounted for 16 percent of all the 664 deaths in Seychelles in 2010.
In Seychelles, cancer is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular diseases which account for 33 percent of all deaths.
The high incidence of cancer, which is related to development as people change their lifestyle and eating habits, has led some to sound the alarm bell so as to get authorities and the population to react to this disturbing trend.
Member of National Assembly for Pointe Larue district, Hon Jennifer Vel tabled a motion in the National Assembly calling on government to undertake an in-depth study into the cause of the high prevalence of cancer among the population and come up with a plan of action to combat the disease on Tuesday.
Talking to Xinhua after she presented her motion, Hon Vel said that through systematic screening of the population and good information campaigns, she is convinced that the rate of early detection can be greatly increased.
She however, added that the long-term solution is for the population to adopt healthy lifestyles which include exercising on a regularly basis, healthy eating and cutting down on cigarette and alcohol consumption.
According to the World Health Organization, cancer accounts for 12.5 percent of cases of death worldwide.
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