Costa Rica

THIS CENTRAL AMERICAN republic gained its independence from Spain in 1821, and was a part of the United Provinces of Central America until 1838, when it became the Republic of Costa Rica. With a population of 3,957,000, the country has one of the best health services in the region with 141 doctors and 109 nurses per 100,000 people. An example of cancer incidence rates in Costa Rica includes 174.3 cases of cancer in males per 100,000, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

During Spanish colonial rule, and until the early 20th century, cancer was treated either with surgery in the case of tumors or with herbal remedies. With the massive rise in life expectancy in Costa Rica, cancer has become far more common. Traditionally, a significant proportion of the economy of Costa Rica has come from growing tobacco, with the result that lung cancer rates, and also oral cancer from chewing tobacco, have also been high.

In 1948, after the culmination of a short civil war, Costa Rica abolished its armed forces and successive governments have spent much money on healthcare, making the country's medical services the best in the region. Furthermore, aid from the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s assisted the government in improving its hospitals. On May 14, 1970, the Costa Rican Post Office issued a series of four postage stamps commemorating the 10th Inter-American Cancer Congress held at Houston, Texas.

Lung cancer rates are high, accounting for 16.5 per 100,000 males. Stomach cancer has proven to be a large problem in Costa Rica, with the country coming in fourth in incidence of the disease, after Japan, South Korea, and North Korea. This may be partly due to Costa Rica's high volume of nitrous volcanic soil, like Japan, but it may also be a reflection on the public health awareness campaign that has reduced the rates of lung and other cancers markedly. In 1996, in answer to worries about the high rate of cervical cancer in the province of Guanacaste, Rolando Herrero, a recipient of the Fred Soper Award in Interamerican Health, had the task of working out a program to publicize screening and better diagnosis. Another study at the same time also found that some descendants of former black slaves who suffered from human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma virus. Philip Bracken Fleming, U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica from 1951 to 1953 died from cancer two years after leaving San José.

The Registro Nacional de Tumores (Costa Rica National Tumor Registry) runs from the Departmento de Estadistica, Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health) in San José.