Current status of cancer and the potential of cancer treatment development in Vietnam

Did you know that cancer is the major cause of death, disability, and medical burden in Vietnam?

According to statistics, 19 out of every 100 deaths are caused by cancer. Although the incidence rate of cancer in Vietnam is not too high (ranked 91st out of 185 countries in the world in 2020), the mortality rate of cancer in Vietnam is the highest in Asia (ranked 50/185 in the world). (According to EIU – Economist Intelligence Unit).

It is estimated that each year, Vietnam has more than 182,000 new cases and more than 122,000 deaths from cancer.

The most common cancers in men are liver, lung, stomach, colorectal, and prostate cancers, while the prevalent cancers in women include breast, lung, colorectal, stomach, and liver cancers. Liver, lung, breast, stomach, and colorectal cancers are common in both men and women.

Thus, diagnosing and treating cancer in the early stages of cancer to prevent death are of greater concern these days.

Due to the strong market demand, many factories in Vietnam are gradually interested in researching and making drugs for cancer treatment. However, most cancer treatments, like Imatinib, Paclitaxel, Capecitabine, etc., are currently being imported directly from abroad.

In Viet Nam, Bidiphar is the first enterprise to produce cancer treatment drugs with a lot of resonance since 2010 for Bocartin 150mg. It is still one of the leaders in the research and development of cancer drugs like generic ones today. Some other enterprises have also started to develop and make brands in the industry for medicinal products in cancer treatment: Davipharm (Adamed), Hera Biopharm, BRV Healthcare, etc.

Nevertheless, the Vietnam pharmaceutical industry faces many difficulties in research and manufacturing cancer drugs, such as technology, experience, patents, etc.

With the continuous development of the pharmaceutical industry in terms of technology, human resources, and investment attention from the state as well as foreign resources, hopefully, soon, we can produce more good quality cancer treatment drugs that are affordable for every Vietnamese person.

REFERENCES:

Globocan Vietnam 2020