Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah

The Hiwa Cancer Hospital in Al-Sulaymaniyah, within Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, has inaugurated a new department dedicated to performing comprehensive cancer surgeries — the first of its kind in the country.

Hospital Director Dr. Yad Naqshbandi told Shafaq News that the new unit, located inside Jamal al-Haj Ali Hospital and administratively affiliated with Hiwa, carries out daily operations for cancer patients from across Iraq. The initiative aims to expand access to specialized treatment and ease the financial burden on patients and their families.

“Many patients previously had to undergo surgery in private hospitals at high cost,” Dr. Naqshbandi said. “Now they can receive treatment free of charge in a fully equipped public facility.”

He noted that Al-Sulaymaniyah is the first province in Iraq to provide this level of specialized surgical care for cancer.

According to the Global Cancer Observatory, Iraq has recorded 37,382 new cancer cases since 2022. The most common cancers among men are lung, colorectal, and leukemia, while breast, thyroid, and colorectal cancers are most prevalent among women.

In the Kurdistan Region alone, more than 2,800 new cases were diagnosed in the first half of 2025 in Al-Sulaymaniyah. Although the region’s cancer incidence rate (151 per 100,000 people) remains below the global average of around 191, health officials warn of a steady upward trend.

Read more: Home or Hope? The Impossible Choice for Iraqi Cancer Patients