8.2 percent of the 1,080 cancer patients seeking treatment in the Maldives, suffer from breast cancer, Health Minister Abdulla Nazim said on Wednesday.

Minister Nazim said this speaking at an event held the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), and added that Aasandha, the national health insurance, covers cancer treatments for numerous patients each year.

Aasandha had treated about 89 patients this year, Nazim said.

“2,329 patients were treated for cancer in 2013, about 0.69 percent of the population” Nazim continued “This means that one out of every 150 Maldivians is a patient”.

IGMH’s CEO, Farhath Shaheer, said that mammogram screenings could be done at the hospital every week. He highlighted IGMH’s construction of an oncology center and said that it is almost complete.

Statistics released by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) said in 2013 that 7.6 million people die from cancer worldwide every year, out of which four million died between the ages of 30 – 60.

First Lady Fathimath Ibrahim was also part of the event.