Thua Thien- Hue province’s People’s Committee rejected rumors of a ‘cancer village’ in Phong Dien district, saying it actually has a lower cancer rate than average.

The provincial Department of Health reported on Dec 11, in the past 10 years, 66 locals at Phong Son commune died of cancer or of suspected cancer.

With the commune population being almost 12,000, its cancer rate is 0.77/ 1,000, which is lower than the country’s average of 0.87. The province’s rate is 0.86. In other news, locals at Tam Hiep commune of central Quang Nam province are growing increasingly concerned about the startling rate of locals suffering and dying of cancer in recent years.

According to Le Chi, head of the communal People’s Committee, some years ago there were just a handful of people who died of cancer out of the commune population of nearly 11,000.

But the number of deaths in the past three years, roughly estimated at 83, along with eight cases currently being treated, is alarming, Chi added.

“In 2012 alone, more than 12 people in the commune died of the disease. The majority of cancer patients and fatalities, mostly lung and liver cancer, in the past few years came from Vinh Dai village, which has the densest concentration of factories, Dan Viet quoted Chi as saying.

“Cancer is a grave cause for concern for locals now,” said Le Thi Nu, head of the communal health center.

What is more worrying is that cancer affects people from all age brackets, Nu added.

Locals are faced with air and water pollution caused by a host of factories operating in the area.

Serious air and water pollution has been widely believed to cause cancer or cancer-related diseases.

“We believe that pollution of the air and water may be the culprit, as most cancer patients here are non-drinkers and the issue did not become prominent until after a multitude of factories mushroomed in the area,” Dan Viet quoted Nu as saying.

With Tam Hiep being the center of Bac Chu Lai and Tam Hiep industrial zones, the commune is packed with brick, glass, industrial alcohol and automobile assembly plants.

“We have continually petitioned to higher relevant authorities to solve the pollution plague but it remains unsolved,” Chi noted.

Nguyen Quang Hoa, chairman of Nui Thanh district’s People’s Committee said that his committee has reported to provincial concerned agencies on Tam Hiep’s cancer rate. An inspection team is expected to be dispatched soon.

He also promised to tackle the pollution issue.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hai, director of Quang Nam province’s Department of Health said he had assigned local health workers to look into the cancer rate at Tam Hiep.

“We’ll test the water samples taken from there for toxins,” Hai added.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, there are currently 37 ‘cancer villages’ all over the country, with consumption of polluted water being one of the principal causes.