Deputy Minister of Health Trần Văn Thuấn speaks at the workshop on March 26. — Photo from the Ministry of Health

HÀ NỘI — About 75 per cent of patients are diagnosed with lung cancer when the condition has reached a late stage, resulting in a five-year survival rate of only about 14.8 per cent.

Early screening for lung diseases plays an important role in timely treatment and improving the quality of life for patients, health experts made the assessment at a workshop, entitled 'Việt Nam Lung Health Programme - Enhanced Access to Comprehensive Health in the Field of Lung Health', on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Health Trần Văn Thuấn said that non-communicable diseases, especially lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and lung cancer, have become the leading causes of death and disability in Việt Nam.

According to the health ministry’s estimates, the rate of COPD in people over 40 years old in Việt Nam is up to 4.2 per cent, among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. The rate of bronchial asthma is 4.1 per cent, but only about 29 per cent of patients receive preventive treatment, and less than 40 per cent are well managed.

In particular, lung cancer, with more than 24,000 new cases each year, currently ranks third in the number of new cases but second in the number of deaths in Việt Nam. About 75 per cent of patients are detected at a late stage, resulting in low survival rates, according to Thuấn.

Dr Trần Quốc Bảo, Department of Disease Prevention at the Ministry of Health, said COPD makes up 45 per cent of non-communicable diseases. The rate of people with COPD who are currently using medication is only 25.6 per cent, which is relatively low.

According to Deputy Director of Hà Nội-based Bạch Mai Hospital Vũ Văn Giáp, patients lack knowledge about medicine, such as often using systemic corticosteroids for treatment or using oriental medicine and supplemental foods. They also worry too much about the effects of the medicine, or only want to use short-acting bronchodilators.

For asthma, about 83.5 per cent of asthma patients also lack knowledge about the disease, of which 30 per cent confuse control and symptom-reducing drugs, 68 per cent mistakenly describe inhalation techniques and 52 per cent of patients said that asthma can be cured, Giáp noted.

Deputy Director of the K National Cancer Hospital Đỗ Hùng Kiên said that in Việt Nam, lung cancer screening is currently facing many difficulties due to a lack of equipment, infrastructure, and expertise, inadequate awareness among people and medical staff, as well as the fact that the health insurance system currently does not cover screening methods.

"On average, the hospital records about 12,000 visits yearly related to lung cancer and treats about 3,200 patients. With more than 70 per cent of patients arriving at a late stage, the five-year survival rate is very low,” said Kiên.

“We need to strengthen screening and diagnosis at an early stage of the disease. Việt Nam currently does not have a standard procedure for lung cancer screening using low-dose CT scans on high-risk groups in the community. Therefore, we need a national programme for lung cancer screening," added Kiên.

The Việt Nam Lung Health Programme for the period 2025-2027 is a public-private partnership initiative, based on three core principles — comprehensive approach, people-centeredness and application of science and technology.

The programme is designed with specific components, such as Promoting communication to raise public awareness, typically the 'CareMe — Love your lungs' campaign, improving the capacity of grassroots health workers through training, clinical guidance and lung disease management models.

It will also promote screening, early diagnosis and effective treatment of non-communicable lung diseases applying digital technology, artificial intelligence (AI), big data in disease monitoring and management and multi-sectoral coordination through the 'Partnership for a sustainable health system' mechanism, to promote health equity, equal access, climate action and green health.

General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam Atul Tandon said: “Lung diseases, including COPD, asthma and lung cancer, represent significant health challenges. Factors such as smoking, environmental pollution, occupational exposures, and genetic predispositions contribute to these high prevalence and incidence rates, further amplified by disparities in healthcare access and environmental determinants.

“By addressing health equity, climate action and resilience together, we can effectively tackle immediate healthcare demands while building robust systems capable of adapting and thriving amid future environmental and societal challenges,” said Tandon. — VNS