Proposal to exempt hospital fees early for cancer patients: What did the director of the final hospital say?

Cancer incidence is increasing, many people detect the disease late

Speaking to reporters at the 28th Ho Chi Minh City Cancer Prevention Conference, which took place on December 4-5, Dr. Diep Bao Tuan, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, said that over the past decade, global estimates show that cancer incidence has been continuously increasing.

Vietnam is not out of the above trend. By 2020, the cancer incidence rate in our country is estimated to reach about 140 cases per 100,000 people, and by 2025 it is expected to continue to increase. Of which, thyroid cancer is at the top of the group of newly diagnosed cancers.

At Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital alone, if in 2024 this place received about 880,000 patients, then by 2025 it will have increased to more than 1.08 million patients.

There are several main reasons for this trend. Firstly, the belief in the ability to treat cancer is increasing. Secondly, the improvement of living standards makes people pay more attention to their health.

And third, transportation and travel between localities are more convenient, helping patients in remote provinces easily access specialized medical services in Ho Chi Minh City.

However, according to Dr. Tuan, the rate of cancer patients who come to the doctor when the disease is in the late stages is still high, leading to increased treatment costs and reduced treatment effectiveness. The main reason is the habit of only going to the doctor when the disease has obvious symptoms.

Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City is promoting the model of periodic cancer screening. Particularly at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, it is expected that in December the unit will put into operation 2 cancer screening areas, so that people without symptoms can still be screened with specialized screening packages.

Regarding treatment, thanks to the State's investment resources, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital has many modern equipment such as new generation radiotherapy systems, high-tech CT scanners, PET/CT systems, etc. International standard targeted treatment techniques, immunotherapy, and high-precision radiotherapy are also widely deployed.

Đề xuất miễn viện phí sớm cho người ung thư: Giám đốc BV tuyến cuối nói gì? - 2 — People wait to have their images taken at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital (Photo: Hoang Le).

The hospital also enhances laparoscopic cancer surgery to reduce invasiveness, limit damage to healthy tissue and help patients recover faster. To date, the unit has mastered the technique of autologous stem cell transplantation in the treatment of some types of cancer and implemented vascular intervention in primary liver cancer.

Is the proposal to exempt hospital fees early for cancer patients reasonable?

Recently, many National Assembly delegates have proposed many breakthrough policies on healthcare, including a proposal to exempt hospital fees early for poor cancer patients, without waiting until 2030.

Commenting on this proposal, Dr. Diep Bao Tuan said that the policy of free health screening and check-ups once a year for all people, including cancer patients, is completely correct and has important significance, not only for the medical industry.

However, to effectively implement, Mr. Tuan said that it is necessary to carefully prepare human resources, equipment and response capacity of provincial medical facilities, to avoid overload at major hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City.

"I think there should be a direction to implement general health check-ups, then apply them specifically to each location and province, to avoid having to focus on upper-level hospitals," said Dr. Tuan.

Regarding the Russian-made cancer drug Pembroria, which was recently granted a circulation registration certificate by the Ministry of Health , the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital shared that a drug to be licensed will undergo careful research.

Therefore, the hospital will bid for the above drug according to regulations, and if winning the bid, it will put it into use like other treatment drugs.

Dr. Tuan added that Pembroria is not a new active ingredient. Previously, Vietnam had licensed many other drugs produced by Russia, and they all showed good results when used for treatment.

"Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital has almost all the current commercial cancer treatment drugs that meet international standards, as long as they are licensed by the Ministry of Health," Dr. Diep Bao Tuan affirmed.

The 28th Ho Chi Minh City Cancer Prevention Conference welcomed more than 2,000 leading experts in the cancer industry from many provinces and cities across the country, with the participation of representatives of medical universities, central and local hospitals and many international units, with 27 leading experts from France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Japan, Korea...

This year, for the first time, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital cooperated with Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy and experts from the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) to organize the ICF Masterclass expert training course.

Within the framework of the conference, there was a dedicated session on artificial intelligence (AI) applications in medicine in general and in the field of cancer in particular. AI is considered one of the prominent focuses, reflecting the inevitable trend of modern oncology in the digital age.

At the same time, many specialized sessions were held in the halls including: Pathological anatomy and molecular biology; Hematology - hematological oncology; Head and neck cancer; Radiation therapy and modern radiosurgery techniques; Gynecological oncology; Breast cancer; Digestive - hepatobiliary - pulmonary - surgical topic groups.

The reports focus on advanced techniques such as AI in radiotherapy planning and screening, adaptive radiotherapy, modern endoscopic surgery, vascular intervention for liver cancer, molecular testing, treatment personalization and post-treatment management.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/de-xuat-mien-vien-phi-som-cho-nguoi-ung-thu-giam-doc-bv-tuyen-cuoi-noi-gi-20251204133055412.htm