Japan aims to cut cancer deaths 20 pct in 10 years http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUST91261
Wed May 30, 2007
By Isabel Reynolds
TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) - Japan is launching a plan to cut deaths from cancer, the nation's biggest killer, among those aged under 75 by 20 percent in the next 10 years.
The programme will focus on improving standards of treatment, which now vary widely by region, early detection and an anti-smoking campaign, a health ministry official said on Thursday.
The Japanese are among the longest-lived people in the world but more than half a million are diagnosed with cancer each year and 320,000 die of the disease.
Total numbers are rising as the population ages, but when figures are adjusted to allow for this, deaths from cancer are already falling gradually.
A survey conducted by the Osaka Prefectural government found that 15,000 cancer patients could be saved each year if standards of treatment at all hospitals were raised to match the most successful cancer centres, the Yomiuri newspaper said.
The plan specifies introducing radiation and chemotherapy at more hospitals and training specialist doctors to provide such treatment.
Previous health campaigns have helped change attitudes to cigarette smoking in Japan, but about 40 percent of men and 11 percent of women were still smokers in 2005, according to ministry figures.
The new cancer plan, formulated after consultations with patients' groups, also aims to improve palliative care for cancer patients, including improved pain relief.
About one in three Japanese die of cancer, of which lung and stomach cancer are the types most likely to be fatal.
In a move to lessen the financial burden on patients, the government on Wednesday set the price of cancer drug Avastin, distributed in Japan by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (4519.T: Quote, Profile, Research, 25 percent lower than the average level overseas. [ID:nT68644]
National health insurance covers the majority of medical costs in Japan, but individuals must cover up to 30 percent out of their own pockets.
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