Increasing number of cancer cases and deaths, Ho Chi Minh City deploys 6 strategies

On April 13, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health announced that in the face of the increasing number of new cases and deaths from cancer, along with the deterioration of hospital facilities, uneven treatment capacity, and low screening participation among the people, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has implemented a cancer prevention strategy in the area.

Tăng số ca mắc và tử vong vì ung thư, TP HCM triển khai 6 chiến lược - Ảnh 1.

Surgery for cancer patients at Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital (facility 2)

Cancer prevention in Ho Chi Minh City is not effective

The Department of Health believes that it is a mistake if the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, Branch 2, is the place to solve the problem of cancer patient overload. However, this is necessary but not enough, so continuing to mobilize social resources to effectively implement a new cancer prevention strategy is truly a comprehensive, scientific and practical solution.

According to the Department of Health, in addition to the increasing patient overload at the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital due to degraded infrastructure (old facility), cancer prevention work in the area has not been effectively implemented in the past due to many difficulties.

Late-stage detection of the disease is still common, due to the fact that early cancer screening activities are still scattered and investment resources are not concentrated. The capacity for cancer diagnosis and treatment is uneven among professional levels. Resources have not been invested properly to be able to apply the latest technologies and methods of diagnosis and treatment into practice... This leads to patients tending to concentrate in end-stage hospitals, causing hospital overload and prolonging treatment waiting time. In addition, palliative care for terminal cancer patients is mainly at upper-level medical facilities. The supply of drugs and medical supplies for palliative care at grassroots medical levels, especially morphine painkillers used in cancer, still faces many difficulties.

6 strategies to prevent cancer

Faced with the above situation, the Ho Chi Minh City health sector has implemented a cancer prevention strategy including the following 6 specific solutions:

Firstly, effectively deploy communication solutions, healtheducation , vaccination,... in cancer prevention.

Second, synchronously deploy many solutions to increase the rate of early cancer screening and detection in the community, including the World Health Organization (WHO) non-communicable disease management program at the grassroots health level (WHO PEN Program) and research on implementing high-tech cancer screening and early detection centers (Japan's Ningen dock model);

Third, build and strengthen the medical network for cancer diagnosis and treatment from the grassroots level to general and specialized hospitals in the city; build and complete synchronous facilities and equipment to develop specialized techniques in cancer treatment at general and specialized hospitals at the end of the line;

Fourth, build and perfect a palliative care network for cancer patients in the community.

Fifth, digitally transform reporting and monitoring of disease cases to manage cancer patient data, gradually forming a cancer treatment map in the city.

6. Promote scientific research and international cooperation in the field of cancer prevention.

According to statistics from the Global Cancer Organization (GLOBOCAN) in 2020, the incidence and mortality of cancer worldwide are on the rise. Vietnam is one of the countries with a high incidence rate (97.3 - 111.9/100,000 people). In 2020, in Vietnam, it is estimated that there were 182,563 new cases and 122,690 deaths from cancer, for every 100,000 people, 159 were newly diagnosed with cancer and 106 died from cancer, the incidence of new cancer in Vietnam has increased by 9 ranks (ranked 90/185 countries), of which the mortality rate due to cancer increased by 6 ranks (ranked 50/185 countries) compared to the record in 2018.

In Ho Chi Minh City alone, according to population cancer data (led by the Oncology Hospital), the number of cancer cases in 2017 reached over 11,000 people (11,292 people), of which 5,014 were men and 6,278 were women.

Source