The 250-bed Cho Ray Oncology Center, equipped with advanced medical equipment, was inaugurated at the Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday, offering more treatment opportunities for tumor patients.

>> 9 women die of cervical cancer in Vietnam every day: seminar The center has 12 above-ground floors, an entresol and two basements, covering a total gross floor area of over 21,000 m2. The facility has been constructed for two years at a total cost of nearly VND429 billion (US$19.9 million). Dr. Nguyen Truong Son, director of the Cho Ray Hospital, said that the center is equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment, including a linear accelerator for cancer radiotherapy. 

The center will offer examinations, diagnosis, early detection and treatment of cancers and tumors, as well as necessary consultations for patients. Notably, the center has a surgical pathology department with a telediagnosis system connected with a hospital in Japan.

The center can examine and treat 500-600 patients everyday on average. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said oncology is one of the five specialties with numbers of patients exceeding the capacity of most hospitals, especially those at the central level. “The Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital is suffering a seious patient overload, so such a new facility as the Cho Ray Oncology Center will help improve the situation,” Minister Tien said.

After the ceremony, the minister offered gifts to some patients who were among the first patients of the center.  Dr. Hoang Dinh Chan, director of Hung Viet Oncology Hospital in Hanoi, on February 4 – World Cancer Day – gave a warning that Vietnam has around 200,000 new cancer cases per year.  Dr. Chan also warned that as many as 80 percent of cancer patients in Vietnam have been hospitalized in the terminal stage of the disease, which kills about 70,000 people in the country every year. The five most common types of cancer recorded in men are those in the lungs, stomach, liver, rectum and throat, while breast and cervix cancers are among the most prevalent cancers in women, he said.

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