This was heard at this morning’s 2024 Scientific and Technical Conference organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital with the participation of leading experts in cancer treatment in Vietnam.
At the conference, Dr. Diep Bao Tuan, Deputy Executive Director of Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, said that cancer has been a burden for countries around the world. The incidence rates for several types of cancer and mortality rates remain on the rise.
GLOBOCAN 2022 data just released shows that there were around 19.9 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths worldwide for the year 2022. In Vietnam, as per statistics, about 180,000 new cases and more than 120,000 cancer-related deaths have been reported. The top three types of cancer by number of deaths include liver, lung, and stomach cancers.
According to Dr. Diep Bao Tuan, the country's cancer incidence rate is average but the death rate is high in comparison with other countries in the Southeast Asia region. He also pointed out late discovery is the culprit of the high proportion of deaths.
Statistics show that about 50-80 percent of patients come to see medical workers when their cancer is in stages 3 and 4, and the treatment results are not as expected. Effective cancer screening programs will help detect diseases early, reduce mortality rates, improve treatment quality and reduce costs for patients. This is also one of the solutions in Ho Chi Minh City's cancer prevention strategy.
At the Ho Chi Minh City-located Oncology Hospital alone, in 2023, the hospital received nearly 800,000 patients who came to the institution for examination. Plus, around 37,000 surgeries have been performed and more than 180,000 people have undergone radiation treatments, 300,000 others undergoing chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. There has been an increase in patients to the hospital.
According to Associate Professor-Dr. Nguyen Anh Dung, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, cancer care and treatment can cost a lot and requires high technology and modern equipment. Therefore, preventive measures, early detection and effective treatment are needed. At the same time, hospitals must be equipped with good equipment and doctors’ professional skills should be improved to gradually prevent and repel cancer.
