BEIJING: China aims to raise the overall five-year survival rate for cancers to over 46.6 percent by 2030 by rolling out comprehensive measures including promoting healthy lifestyles, expanding screening and accelerating the development of new technologies, officials and experts said on Wednesday. China reports nearly 4.1 million new cancer cases each year, with lung, colorectal, stomach, liver and breast cancers the most common. Cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other chronic illnesses account for over 80 percent of deaths in the country.
Guo Yanhong, director of the National Health Commission’s medical emergency response department, said during a news conference that the proportion of people surviving for at least five years after a cancer diagnosis rose from 40.5 percent in 2015 to 43.7 percent last year. “The upward trend seen in cancer incidence and death rates in China has been initially curbed, and the incidence of prevalent cancers, such as those in the esophagus, stomach and liver, has been decreasing annually,” she said.
Drawing lessons from past years’ efforts, the commission launched an action plan on Wednesday to further curtail rising rates of cancer incidence and mortality, through addressing risk factors, strengthening screening and early interventions and implementing standardized therapies across the nation. The action plan calls for increasing awareness rates of key knowledge on cancer prevention to over 80 percent by 2030. The rate currently stands at 70 percent, said Guo. Zhang Yong, Party chief of the National Cancer Center, said that about 40 percent of cancers can be prevented through reining in risk factors and adopting a healthier lifestyle, such as quitting smoking and reducing alcohol use, obtaining vaccines against hepatitis B and human papillomavirus and minimizing exposure to carcinogens, especially at workplaces. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
