Shafaq News- Erbil

Erbil’s Nanakali Hospital for Blood Diseases and Cancer records between 1,500 and 1,800 new cancer cases annually and receives up to 400 patients a day, hospital director Hardi Jawad Sabir said on Monday.

At a press conference, Sabir said the daily figure largely reflects registered patients returning for weekly or monthly care rather than new diagnoses, adding that the hospital had received more than 800 packages of rare cancer medications through cooperation between the Barzani Charity Foundation and Norway’s MAIN organization.

Nanakali specializes in solid tumors, blood disorders, and pediatric cancers, serving people from across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) as well as central and southern provinces.

Sabir put the hospital’s recovery rate at approximately 75%, comparing it with what he said were international rates of around 30% in developing countries and up to 90% in developed countries. He also maintained that cancer incidence in the KRI remains relatively low by global standards.

In February, KRI Health Minister Saman Barzanji said that 10,481 new cancer cases were registered across the KRI in 2025, with around 40% of those receiving care coming from other Iraqi provinces.

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