Malaga province has insufficient cancer care

RESIDENTS of Malaga suffering from cancer have limited options for treatment.

Malaga province currently lacks a quarter of the 53 oncologists needed to serve the population, only offering 41.

According the Spanish Oncological Society, SEOM, there should be 2.79 oncologists per 100,000 inhabitants.

As the population of Malaga currently stands at 1,875,476, out of which 253,408 are expats, the province should have at least 53 oncologists.

But Malaga only has 41 doctors who specialise in oncology working in the healthcare system who deal with the 7,000 to 8,000 new cases diagnosed every week.

30 oncologists work in public health facilities while 11 are in private clinics.

Several major public health centers lack oncologists, including the hospital in Axarquia, where there is a visiting oncologist only once a week, and more rural areas have almost no access to oncological care.