First cancer statistics report from Hazara division

'Cancer' is on rise globally. Cancer registry is vital for policy making, resource allocation, progress tracking and overall cancer control. In Pakistan, cancer prevention, screening and standardised clinical trials, as well as quality assurance through surveillance are badly hampered due to the lack of a National Cancer Registry. For Pakistan a well-integrated system of Cancer Registry is need of the day. This retrospective study was conducted on the hospital records at the Oncology Department of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad from year 2007-12. Data were collected through a standard data capture form with a final figure of 555 patients. The malignancies were diagnosed clinically and histopathologically at different laboratories of Pakistan. Among these cases, 54.08% were male and 45.92% female. Incidence of cancer in patients below 14 years age was 8.47% and 91.53% above 14 years. Majority [31.95%] cases were from Mansehra followed by Abbottabad with 27.08% and Haripur 14.26% cases. Leukaemias were at top with 15.14% cases followed by breast carcinoma [13.69%], Lymphomas [12.07%], ovarian carcinomas [8.65%], and gastric carcinoma and skin cancers with 2.70% each. Among men, the highest incidence was of Hodgkin's lymphoma [14.9%] followed by lymphocytic leukaemia [14.3%]. Prostate cancer was seen in 8.3% male patients. Another 5.7% patients had lung cancer. In women, the highest incidence was carcinoma breast [19.7%] followed by ovarian carcinoma [13.4%], leukaemia [9.7%], and Hodgkin's lymphoma [4.3%]. A variety of cancers are prevalent in the indigent population. Record-keeping in wards is sub-optimal. Commonest cancers in the area have slight differences with rest of the country

Compliance of anti-smoking regulations by cigarette industry in Pakistan

Background: The hazards of cigarette smoking and its increasing consumption are well known despite the ongoing tussle between the tobacco industry and global governments. To curb the menace of smoking, anti-smoking laws have been enforced from time to time by various governments. In 2003, Ministry of Health [MoH] Government of Pakistan has imposed certain regulations on cigarette manufacturing industry. The aim of this study was to highlight the compliance of the industry with these regulations. Methods: A cross-sectional study of major cigarette selling shops was conducted in Abbottabad. It was aimed at determining the availability of total cigarette brands and their compliance with the regulations and also to find out attributes of cigarette customers. Results: A total of 39 varieties of 18 cigarette brands are available in Abbottabad city, out of which 71.8% are imported varieties. A total of 38.4% varieties have displayed health warnings [28.2% pictorial health warning, 10.2% have written health warning. Majority of cigarette customers ar between 20–40 years of age, while 5.6% customers include youngsters between 10–20 years of age. Female customers, accounting for 8% of total cigarette customers, buy only those brands which have not displayed the health warning. Conclusions: Observed compliance with governmental regulation for displaying health warning is 39% which is far less than desired. Sale of cigarette to children is also practiced. Ministry of Health [MoH] should assure the display of these warnings on all the brands so that smokers must be fully aware about the risk involved in smoking Keywords: Cigarette smoking; anti-smoking regulations; protection of non-smoker health