Vietnam MoH Eyes Insurance Expansion for Breast Cancer Screening
In the proposed amendment to the Health Insurance Law, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health has suggested prioritizing the expansion of health insurance coverage for early diagnosis screening of six diseases, with a priority of breast cancer and cervical cancer.
Regarding breast cancer screening, in the impact assessment of the proposed amendment to the Health Insurance Law, the health ministry stated that the average expenditure ranges from VND2.1 trillion to VND5 trillion ($87.5 million-$208.3 million) per year depending on the screening method. However, this cost would significantly decrease if the age group of women eligible for screening is limited.
For breast cancer, if detected through screening at an early stage, patients can save treatment costs compared to late-stage detection. The average treatment costs for breast cancer patients at stages I to IV are respectively VND4.2 million, VND12.1 million, VND22.5 million, and VND17.7 million per year. Therefore, if detected at an early stage (stage I), patients can save from VND7.9 million to VND18.3 million per year compared to those detected at later stages.
In Vietnam, as many as 24,563 new cases of breast cancer were recorded, accounting for 25.8% of all cancer cases in women. The incidence rate was recorded at 49.6 per 100,000 women.