Vietnam is in the top 2 on the world cancer map

WHO ranks Vietnam in the top 2 of the world cancer map. Every year, more than 70,000 people die from cancer, an average of 205 people/day.

This is the information shared by leading cancer experts at the national cancer prevention conference held this morning in Hanoi.

Professor Nguyen Chan Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Cancer Association, said,

Cancer incidence is on the rise in most countries around the world.

Globally, there are currently about 23 million people living with this disease, of which more than 14 million new cases and 8.2 million deaths occur each year.

In Vietnam, the number of new cancer cases increased rapidly from 68,000 in 2000 to 126,000 in 2010 and is expected to exceed 190,000 by 2020. Each year, more than 70,000 people die from cancer, equivalent to 205 people/day.

According to this data, WHO ranks Vietnam in the top 50 countries in the top 2 of the cancer map (the top 50 countries are in the top 1). Specifically, Vietnam is ranked 78/172 countries and territories surveyed with a mortality rate of 110/100,000 people, equal to the rate in Finland, Somalia, and Turkmenistan.

In men, lung cancer has the highest incidence and mortality rate, followed by stomach, liver, and colorectal cancer. In women, breast, stomach, and lung cancer are the leading causes.

Professor Hung said that lung cancer in Vietnamese men is only equivalent to that in other countries in the world such as China and Korea. However, lung cancer in women is alarming, nearly 2/5 of that in men due to passive smoking.

3 out of 10 people are cured

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital, shared that while most types of cancer are increasing in Vietnam, cervical cancer is gradually decreasing due to early detection, good screening, and increasing vaccination rates.

Associate Professor Thuan paid special attention to lung cancer, while in the US it ranks 10th in men in terms of cases, Vietnam ranks first due to excessive smoking. 85% of lung cancer patients are related to smoking.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Van Thuan said that the cancer cure rate in Vietnam is only over 30%.

“Most cancers can be cured if detected early and treated promptly and properly. However, with lung cancer, prevention is number one because even if detected early, treatment is less effective than with other types of cancer,” Mr. Thuan informed.

According to Mr. Thuan, with current conditions, when combining 4 directions at the same time: disease prevention, early detection, enhanced diagnosis and treatment, palliative care, the cancer cure rate has increased but is still much lower than in developed countries.

“Currently, the cancer cure rate (survival rate over 5 years) in men is 33%, in women about 40%, while in many developed countries this figure has reached 70-80%. The reason is that up to 70% of cancer patients in the country are diagnosed when the cancer is in the late stages,” Associate Professor Thuan shared.

According to statistics, the total cost of 6 common types of cancer: Breast, liver, colon, oral cavity, cervix and stomach has reached 26,000 billion VND, accounting for 0.22% of Vietnam's GDP in 2012.

Also, the results of the 2012 survey showed that each cancer patient had to spend 200 million VND on direct and indirect treatment. About 1/3 of patients did not have enough money to buy medicine after 1 year of being diagnosed with the disease.

According to Vietnamnet.vn