Vietnam Has among World’s Nations with Highest Cancer Fatality Rates

The World Health Organization (WHO) has continued ranking Vietnam among the countries with the highest rate of cancer fatalities, said Nguyen Chan Hung, chairman of Vietnam Cancer Association. According to Hung, Vietnam along with Finland, Somalia and Turkmenistan stood 78th among 172 countries with a cancer death rate of 110 for every 100,000 people. Cancer patient numbers in Vietnam have been on the rise with figures forecast to reach 190,000 cases in 2020 compared to just 68,000 in 2000 and 126,000 in 2010. Every year, around 115,000 people in Vietnam die of cancer, equal to 315 people per day. Lung, liver, stomach, rectum and breast cancer were the biggest killers. Up to 85% of lung cancer patients are related to smoking, said Tran Van Thuan, Director of K Hospital in Hanoi, added that most cancer patients come to hospital quite late, so, treatment was often ineffective and costly, resulting in a high death rate. The rate of patients who recover from cancer treatment in Vietnam is roughly between 30% and 40%, against 70%-80% in many developed countries. A report of the Ministry of Health indicated that total cost for breast, lung, rectum, stomach, liver and cervical cancers in Vietnam reached VND25.78 trillion ($1.2 billion) in 2012, accounting for 0.22% of annual GDP. (dantri.com.vn Oct 6, news.zing.vn Oct 6)