China's health authorities are to launch this year the third
nationwide survey on causes of death, a health official announced
Monday.
Patterns of illness and death had changed over recent decades
due to improved living and health conditions, so updated
information was needed to optimize disease control plans and
allocation of health resources, said Ministry of Health spokesman
Mao Qun'an.
The survey, focusing on cancer and jointly launched by the
Ministry of Health and Ministry of Science and Technology, would
cover more than 100 million people, nearly 10 percent of the
population.
It is expected to identify cancer death rates in various regions
since 2000, as well as the geographical spread of major cancers,
said Mao.
The findings would be used as a reference in the formation of
the country's cancer control guidelines, and as a basis for
establishing a cancer registration system and a study of key
illnesses and related risk factors.
Two previous surveys on causes of death, in the 1970s and 1990s,
showed rapid increases in cancer deaths in the urban and rural
regions. Cancer has become the top killer of the Chinese
people.
In the 1970s, cancer killed 700,000 Chinese every year, about
0.074 percent of the total population. In the 1990s, 1.17 million
died of cancer annually, accounting for 0.094 percent of the
population. At the beginning of this century, 1.5 million Chinese
died of cancer every year, 0.115 percent of the population.
Health officials have warned that the toll might double in the
next 20 years if no effective measures were taken.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2006)