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The number of new cancer cases in Hong Kong is expected to increase by 40% over the next decade or so, while there may already be more women than men with the deadly disease, according to the reports. forecasts.
The projection took place when the latest statistics from the Hong Kong Cancer Registry showed that a record number of 31,468 new cases were diagnosed in 2016, 1,150 more than the year before.
And the number of people with the disease, the leading cause of death in Hong Kong, is expected to increase further, according to the registry's director, Dr. Wong Kam-hung.
By the year 2030, the number of new cases is expected to increase by about 30 to 40% from the latest available figures of 2016.
Colorectal, breast and lung cancers, which are expected to increase by about 40%, are among the types of diseases that are expected to increase the most.
Wong, a clinical oncologist, said the projection was based on changes in population structure and trends in new cases in previous years.
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"Our population will age significantly," Wong said, pointing out that age was a contributing factor to some types of the disease, such as breast and lung cancers.
A diet rich in meat, fats, sugar and processed foods was also associated with the development of cancers such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
Wong said that if the total population of Hong Kong increased by about 0.7% per year, this figure was about 3% for people aged 65 and over.
Cancer has been diagnosed every year in more men than women, the latest statistics indicating that 16,035 men and 15,433 women were newly identified with the disease in 2016.
But the situation was probably going to reverse this year or next year, given the downward trend in the number of men diagnosed with cancer between 2007 and 2016, but the The opposite was true for women.
Wong said more women were suffering from the disease because of a generally older population. Several types of cancer found only in women, such as breast and cervical cancer, appeared mainly in people aged 45 to 64 years.
"As the number of aging young women increases, the number of cancers will also increase," said Wong.
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The government has adopted screening as one of its strategies for controlling the disease. Screening for colorectal cancer, launched on an experimental basis in September 2016 and converted into a regular program in August of this year, provides a subsidized service to residents aged 50 to 75 years.
While the American Cancer Society had updated a guideline in May of this year, recommending that such screening be instituted at age 45, Wong said that it was not the youngest group needed to be tested, as more than 90% of colorectal cases occurred in Hong Kong at age 50. or older.
The government also instructed the University of Hong Kong to conduct a study on breast cancer risk factors among local women, to consider the type of screening for those at different risk levels and to decide whether universal screening should be launched.
Tim Pang Hung-Cheong, an advocate for patient rights at the NGO Society for Community Organization, said the growing number of cancer patients would place an additional burden on the public health system in terms of rapid service delivery.
"The time needed for diagnosis and treatment could increase," said Pang. "It's the grassroots people who would be the most affected."
To develop better cancer control strategies, he suggested that the government adopt different approaches, such as intensifying work on cancer prevention and detection, better coordination of all treatment specialties, and the allocation of more resources for patient counseling.
Clement Chan Wai-kit, president of the Cancer Patient Alliance, said the government should introduce measures to accelerate cancer diagnosis for patients in public clinics, as well as make extra efforts to provide subsidized medicines to patients.
For the latest treatments awaiting inclusion in a government-backed safety net, pharmaceutical companies could be invited to offer services first on a subsidized basis.
This article predicts that the number of new cancer cases in Hong Kong is expected to increase by 40% by 2030 appeared in the South China Morning Post
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