Three Linear Accelerators for 1.8 Million Residents: Klekovski Announces Urgent Oncology Measures While Breast Screening Covers Under 6%
At a workshop on October 15 the health minister said “patients being treated today cannot wait”; 8,371 new cancer cases were recorded in 2023.
Health Minister Sašo Klekovski, at the “Redefining Oncology Care” workshop organized by the Ministry and the Hema-Onko association on October 15, announced urgent measures to stabilize the oncology system, without listing them individually. “Patients being treated today cannot wait,” he said. A study on infrastructure and technology is starting in parallel, and a long-term national approach to cancer control is being built. This year the country joined the EU4Health program on the same terms as EU members.
The figures from the workshop: in 2023 there were 8,371 new cancer cases, 16% more than ten years earlier, and 3,726 deaths, or about 23 new diagnoses and about 11 deaths a day. The University Clinic for Radiotherapy and Oncology has three linear accelerators for about 1.8 million residents. Breast screening coverage is under 6%, while in Parliament Klekovski said it ranges from 5 to 15%, against a European benchmark of 70%. According to the State Audit Office, mammograms rose from 651 in 2021 to 17,000 in 2024. In 2025 diagnostic services rose 15% and radiotherapy 55%.
French oncologist Prof. Joseph Gligorov recommended moving from one overloaded center to a national network, with one comprehensive oncology center coordinating care, complex cases treated centrally and standard therapy closer to patients’ homes. No concrete deadlines or amounts for the urgent measures have been published.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 16, 2026
