Shafaq News- Erbil

10,481 new cancer cases were recorded in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2025, a senior Kurdish official indicated on Wednesday.

Speaking at a forum on cancer organized by Salahaddin University in Erbil, the Kurdish Health Minister Saman Barzinji noted that around 40% of cases involve patients from other Iraqi provinces traveling daily to the Region for treatment.

He added that cancer care in the Kurdistan Region is provided exclusively through public hospitals, free of charge, and financed by the Regional Government (KRG) through a dedicated health fund.

The Iraqi Ministry of Health’s Cancer Registry recorded over 43,000 new cancer cases across Iraq in 2024. Among men, lung, colorectal, and leukemia cancers were most common, while breast, thyroid, and colorectal cancers led among women. The Ministry further documented a steady rise in cancer incidence in the Kurdistan Region, where rates have more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 151 cases per 100,000 —slightly worse than the international average of 191 per 100,000.

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