Vulnerability of people with cancer and the potential risks of covid-19 pandemic: A perspective in Morocco

Abstract

Cancer affects almost 18 million around the world in 2018, of these 9.5 million cases were in men and 8.5 million in women. COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-nCoV and was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Recently, on March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a virus pandemic disease. Furthermore, it has been known that the malignancy and anticancer treatments, such as chemotherapy or surgery cause systemic immunosuppressive state in patients with cancer which exposes them to infection more than others especially for COVID-19 and with a high probability of complications. Additionally, the major concern for patients with cancer is the incapacity to get fundamental medical services due to the pandemic spread. In Morocco, thanks to measures such as contamination prevention, prioritization of care, and price control of therapies, cancer patients were able to continue their treatment during the covid-19 pandemic.