The general hospital of Vietnam’s southern province of Kien Giang July 15 put into operation a hi-tech radiation therapy area worth over VND60 billion ($3.14 million) after a 10-month construction. This is the first of its kind in the Mekong Delta region, which is expected to meet the rising demand of medical treatment for cancer patients in the province and neighboring localities, the Phap Luat Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh newspaper reported July 16. Vietnam now has only 11 radiation therapy equipment, satisfying the demand of more than 10% of its 86.5-million population, vice chairman of the Vietnam Cancer Prevention Association Nguyen Ba Duc said at the opening ceremony. The Southeast Asian country identifies 150,000 new cancer patients and 75,000 fatalities of the disease a year.
