Turkish Health Minister Recep Akdag has said smoking, alcohol and high-calorie foods posed greater factors in cancer than the Chernobyl disaster.
The Health Ministry has concluded its research report “Black Sea Region Cancer and Cancer Risk Factors”. According to the report there is no direct link between the increased number of cancer cases in Turkey’s Black Sea region and Chernobyl incident. Health Minister Akdag told alcohol and the consumption of high-calorie foods were the main causes of cancer.
73,470 people from over 20,000 houses were interviewed across Turkey. Cancer cases in the Black Sea region showed no greater increases than other regions of the country.
Lung cancer is the most common in the cities where the research was carried out. The ratio of people with cancer to the total number of people interviewed was 1.85 according to the research.
The Chernobyl disaster has been claimed as the reason for the rise in cancer cases in Turkey.
