Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ14: Cancer cases

Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 14):

Question:

Regarding cancer cases, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a) the number of cancer cases newly diagnosed each year since 2002, together with a breakdown by type of cancer and patients' age profile (in age groups each covering five years);

(b) the latest five-year relative survival rates for various types of cancer; and

(c) the types of cancer showing an upward trend in age-standardised incidence rates in the past three years, and the channels through which such information is publicised to the public by the relevant authorities?

Reply:

Madam President,

At present, cancer data of the overall population in Hong Kong are collected by the Hong Kong Cancer Registry (the Registry) of the Hospital Authority (HA). With the allocation of additional resources to enhance the cancer data system, the Registry now collects data not only from public hospitals, but also from private hospitals. The lead time between the detection of a new case and the confirmation and release of its relevant data by the Registry has also been reduced from 27 months to 24 months. Given the lead time of 24 months, we can only provide data and analysis up to 2004. Our replies to each part of the question are as follows:

(a) From 1960s onwards, cancer has been the number one killer disease in Hong Kong. As our population grows and ages, it is expected that the number of cancer cases will continue to rise. According to the latest statistics, in 2004, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer are the most common types of new cancer cases among males, whereas breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, corpus cancer and cervical cancer are the most common types of new cancer cases among females. Statistics of new cancer cases by types of cancer and age groups between 2002 and 2004 are detailed at Annex.

(b) The Registry is working with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the auspices of the World Health Organization on a survey of the survival rates of cancer patients. The survey will be completed soon and the IARC will release the findings in due course.

(c) A reliable trend cannot be deduced solely based on the incidence rates of cancers in the past three years, and hence statistical figures of cancers in the 20 years from 1985 to 2004 have been used to work out the trend. The figures indicate that breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, corpus cancer and ovary cancer all show an upward trend in their age-standardised incidence rates.

Regarding the publicity efforts, the Registry has, since 2002, started to release figures on cancers in Hong Kong through its website on a regular basis. The Registry also works with universities and non-government organisations such as the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society and Hong Kong Cancer Fund, to provide health information for the public, in particular information on cancers with an upward trend of incidence.

To enhance public awareness of cancer prevention, the Department of Health (DH) has been playing an active role in providing the public with information about cancer prevention and healthy lifestyle through different channels, including roving exhibitions, the Central Health Education Unit's website and various publications. According to the findings of medical researches, some of the cancers are associated with behavioural risk factors such as smoking or alcoholism, unhealthy diet and obesity. In this connection, the DH provides the public with smoking cessation service and has launched the "Two Plus Three Every Day" campaign since 2005 to raise public awareness of healthy diet.

Moreover, the HA has organised health education activities in its Health InfoWorld, the patient resource centres in various hospitals and the specialist outpatient clinics for cancer patients, with a view to heightening public alertness to cancer.


Ends/Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:50

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Attachment:
Annex to LCQ14