Cancer will Reach 20 Million People by 2020

Image via WikipediaCancer disease expert from the Netherlands Prof. APM Heintz, MD, PhD estimate gynecologic cancer patients in the world will reach 20 million people in 2020. "70 percent of them will live in countries that have only five percent of the money available to treat cancer," he said at a scientific speech when he received a degree honoris causa at the Central Council of the University of Indonesia (UI), Depok, on Tuesday.

He said, gynecologic cancers, especially cervical cancer is a disease of the developing world, 80 percent of cervical cancer patients living in developing countries, while breast cancer has the highest incidence in the western world. "Cervical cancer is theoretically preventable, and breast cancer can not," he said.

According to him, there are more threats to health than cancer. Approximately one million people each year die from malaria or tuberculosis. "Many people die every year because they do not have clean drinking water," he said.

That, he says, a fact which need attention and should see the devastating effects of gynecologic cancer in a broader perspective. He said the fight against cancer should be priority number one in the developing world, but health care for women must be priority number one, including the treatment of gynecologic cancers.

Heintz said, now we have the tools to prevent cervical cancer is by vaccination but the price of 400 U.S. dollars per person is still too expensive for the developing world. According to him, Indonesia is still much need of gynecologic oncologists.

In modern oncology, patients treated by a specialist team consisting of surgeons, medical oncologists, radiotherapists, pathologists, nurses and social workers. He said the oncologist who works can never reach the level of competence of a multidisciplinary team. This teamwork has financial consequences, but the higher cost is paid back by increasing the quality of service, he said.

Cancer