ULAN BATOR, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has the world's highest rate of cancer mortality per 100,000, the country's National Cancer Center said Saturday.
In 2022, 4,548 people died of cancer in Mongolia with a population of 3.4 million, while at least 6,885 people were diagnosed with the disease in the country, the center said in a statement on the occasion of the World Cancer Day that falls on Feb. 4 each year.
More than 70 percent of new cancer cases have been diagnosed too late, and 87 percent of cancer patients are those aged 45 years or older, it said, adding that liver, gastric, esophageal and cervical cancers accounted for the majority of all registered cases.
Mongolia launched nationwide health checkups from last May to detect serious diseases early so as to promote a healthy lifestyle and narrow the life expectancy gap between men and women.
Late diagnosis makes treatment less likely to succeed and reduces survival chances, the country's Ministry of Health said in a statement, urging the public to actively participate in the checkups free of charge. ■
