The number of cancer patients in China hit 4.3 million in 2015, up from 3.4 million in 2011, according to the Chinese Cancer Registry Annual Report.
A recent report by Vista stated that this figure includes about 733,300 patients suffering from lung cancer, the most lethal type of cancer in China. There are 320,000 more cancer patients in cities than in rural areas, in line with the fact that 56 percent of the Chinese population is now urbanized.
In 2015, 2.8 million people in China died from cancer, a death rate 20 percent above the global average. While fewer than 20 percent of terminal patients in China are cancer sufferers due to the absence of a genetic predisposition in a significant proportion of the general population, external and lifestyle factors have emerged as the main contributors to the national cancer death rate, according to China’s National Cancer Registry Center.
Dai Min, the center's deputy director, has warned that the general public is unaware of the efficacy of early detection methods, and the fact that survival rates improve significantly the sooner a diagnosis is made. Ignorance, she claims, has led many potential patients to eschew regular medical checkups.
"The lack of a comprehensive insurance system and inadequate medical services are also to blame for China’s high cancer death rate," she said.
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