Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital joins project on improving breast cancer treatment

The signing of the MoU

Under the framework of the MoU, the hospital will focus on strengthening patient and community awareness about breast cancer and improving doctors' breast cancer diagnosis and treatment ability at the hospital. Priority will be given to increasing access to treatment with advanced therapies for high-risk breast cancer patients in the hospital and support optimising breast cancer diagnosis and the treatment database built by Vietnam Social Insurance and the National Cancer Institute.

Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital director Pham Xuan Dung reported day-by-day increases in the rate of cures in cancer in general, particularly breast cancer, as a result of advances in medicine along with early detection and patient’s access to advanced therapies.

However, Dung said, breast cancer is still a health issue of social concern and requires the cooperation of the entire health sector and related agencies to develop overall intervention solutions that both raise awareness of the community and strengthen diagnosis and treatment capacity to minimise the financial burden for the patient and society.

“Today's signing ceremony sets an important milestone in the project on improving access to advanced therapies for high-risk breast cancer patients in Vietnam during 2020-2025. We hope that the project will promote the spread of positive messages in the community, sparking hope for patients, especially those at high risk. Roche Vietnam hopes that the project will be an effective and enduring support for Vietnamese doctors and health systems in diagnosing, treating, and minimising the burden that breast cancer brings,” said Girish Mulye, chief representative of Roche Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital is the fifth medical facility in the country (along with K Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Oncology Hospital, and Cho Ray Hospital) to participate in the project.

Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital also signed a cooperation agreement with Roche Vietnam on strengthening the professional capacity of the hospital's medical staff, improving connections and cooperation with domestic and foreign organisations and oncologists, and carrying out activities for the interests of patients and the community.

According to the Global Cancer Observatory (Globocan2020), in Vietnam, breast cancer ranks first among all types of women’s cancer, with 21,555 new cases detected each year. It accounts for 25.8 per cent of cancer incidents in both genders.

The average age of breast cancer incidence in women is 34.2 per 100,000 people. In both genders, breast cancer mortality rate ranks fourth (9,345 cases) after liver cancer, lung cancer, and stomach cancer. The age-standardised mortality rate of breast cancer is 13.8 per 100,000 people.

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