Cancer cases have been on the rise in Vietnam, particularly among young people, with unsafe food considered a major cause.

Vietnam has around 1,500 new cancer patients each year and the figure is forecast to rise to 189,000 every year by 2020.

Patients at K Hospital

According to statistics from the K Hospital in Hanoi which specialises in cancer treatment, the hospital has received more than 1,000 patients who have had medical checks-up a day, up from some 700-800 patients five years ago.

Deputy Director of K Hospital Tran Van Thuan said the hospital sees an average increase of 20% for cancer patients annually.

A recent report by Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi revealed that up to more than 73% of cancer patients in Vietnam die every year compared to the average rate of 59.7% worldwide, making Vietnam on of the worst countries in the world in terms of death rates due to cancer.

Deputy Director of Bach Mai Hospital Mai Trong Khoa said that more young people have become cancer victims, even including those at twenties and children.

Khoa noted that 80% of cancer cases in Vietnam were attributed to outside factors such as air pollution, unsafe food and toxic work environments, with unsafe food seen as the major cause of cancer.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Xuyen said that Vietnam should consider cancer as the national issue as it is not only a problem for the health sector but also had a serious socio-economic impact. Xuyen said it was necessary to issue policies on supporting and improving treatment for cancer patients.

Dtinews