Red Sea Governor Mahmoud Hafez has decided to form a medical committee to investigate a complaint submitted to him by the residents of the Om al-Howaytat village following 28 reported cases of breast cancer in the village. The village is located in Safaga Governorate
The governor requested all the villagers to be examined and any suspected sources of pollution to be reported.
“We’ll collect samples from the drinking and sewage water,” said Alaa Abul Azm, undersecretary of the Health Ministry, suggesting that patients might have been afflicted with disease by working in phosphate mines.
A village resident claimed a company had disposed hazardous waste that harbor authorities refused to export.
“It’s no joke that 28 out of 3000 villagers get breast cancer,” said Dr. Mohamed Shaalan, head of the Breast Cancer Foundation of Egypt. He ruled out the suggestion that phosphate mines were the culprit. “Breast cancer can come from insecticides or marriage between cousins,” he explained.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
