Agadir Cancer Center Overwhelmed: 1,600 Annual Cases, Only 28 Beds Available

For a center that welcomes patients from all over southern Morocco, the establishment does not have adequate reception facilities for the ever-increasing number of cancer cases recorded in the region. According to Al Massae, the bed capacity is limited to 28 beds and not one more, and the health equipment is in a deplorable state, knowing that the only scanner the center had has been transferred to the city of Al Hoceima.

More than 1600 cancer cases are recorded each year in the region. The majority of cases are observed in areas with high agricultural activity, particularly Chtouka Ait-baha and Taroudant.

Among the incriminated factors, the excessive use of chemicals, which is reflected in the high pollution of groundwater, as well as the non-compliance with safety and protection standards by workers in the agricultural sector.

According to the daily, the various associative actors have attributed responsibility to the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA), which, according to them, should intensify controls on companies investing in the agricultural sector as well as sales units for medicines and pesticides.