Breast cancer has the 4th highest mortality rate in Vietnam

According to the latest data from the Global Cancer Organization (Globocan), in 2022, nearly 2.3 million women worldwide will have breast cancer, accounting for 23.8% of all cancer cases in women. This is also the most common disease in women globally with more than 666,000 deaths in 2022.

In Vietnam, according to the latest report by Globocan, there were 24,563 new cases of breast cancer in 2022, accounting for 28.9% of cancer cases, the highest among cancers in both men and women. More than 10,000 breast cancer patients died in 2022, making this disease the 4th leading cause of death in Vietnam, after liver, lung and stomach cancer.

Breast cancer has a silent formation process. Even though the tumor has appeared for a while, the patient may not yet show symptoms. This disease can be cured if detected early and treated actively. In cases detected in the final stage, when the tumor has metastasized throughout the body, only about 22% of patients survive after 5 years.

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Breast cancer ranks fourth in terms of deaths in Vietnam, after liver, lung and stomach cancer. Photo: Ha Thu

To increase the chances of successful treatment, patients need to detect tumors early and choose the appropriate treatment method. Although breast cancer treatment may not be as complicated as some other cancers, the cost of treating this disease is relatively high and can become a significant financial burden for patients and their families.

According to data from K Hospital (Hanoi), the average treatment cost for a cancer patient in general is about 176 million VND/year. Other statistics show that up to 33.8% of cancer patients are unable to pay hospital fees; 37.4% of cancer patients in Vietnam are in difficult circumstances due to having to pay too much for treatment. This rate may increase as the price of medical services is forecast to increase by 30% from 2024.

Financial backup plan for women

Holding the diagnosis of stage 2A right breast cancer in her hand, Ms. VTN (42 years old, real estate project manager in Hai Phong) could not help but be bewildered. According to the doctor's advice, Ms. N. needed mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery at a cost of 40 - 50 million VND. After that, she continued to undergo 4 rounds of chemotherapy at a cost of 15 - 17 million VND each round, not including medicine and regular check-ups. The estimated cost of treating this disease is more than 100 million VND. However, according to doctors, this is only the cost of treatment for breast cancer detected early. Patients who detect the disease at a late stage will have a more complicated treatment regimen, so the cost will also be higher.

Faced with this situation, many women choose to participate in insurance as a financial backup plan to face health risks, including breast cancer. Ms. LTTH (sales manager of an import-export company in Ho Chi Minh City) said that she has just participated in the health insurance package 'Live healthy every day' (version 2024) of Manulife after having 'equipped' herself with a life insurance contract from this company.

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Many women choose to participate in health insurance packages with optimal benefits for breast cancer patients.

According to Ms. H., the decision to participate in this health insurance package was based on the wide range of benefits for the breast cancer she was interested in.

According to information from Manulife Vietnam, the 'Healthy Living Every Day' insurance product will by default cover cancer treatment costs such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc. Not only that, this product also considers paying for same-day treatment for cancer. Particularly for breast cancer, the cost of breast reconstruction (after mastectomy) is also covered by 'Healthy Living Every Day'. In addition, this product also supports other special treatment costs such as dialysis, organ transplants, same-day treatment or surgery costs, hospitalization allowance, etc.

Ms. Khanh Van, an insurance consultant, added that one of the differences of this insurance product is that in addition to the default Inpatient Treatment benefit, customers can optionally participate in other benefits such as Outpatient Treatment, Dental or Maternity according to their needs without complicated binding conditions.

“Normally, when customers want to buy additional benefits, many companies will have their own constraints. For example, if you want to buy maternity benefits, you have to buy outpatient and inpatient benefits even if the customer does not need them. With the product 'Healthy Living Every Day', customers can freely participate in suitable benefits without such constraints to optimize their costs,” Ms. Van explained.

In fact, health insurance has been playing an important role in protecting people's finances against health risks, not only for breast cancer but also for many other diseases. In addition to paying benefits for common diseases, many health insurance lines have now been upgraded and expanded to cover serious diseases (accidents, cancer, critical illnesses, etc.), even raising the age of protection to 75 years old, helping to reduce the financial burden on people when treating diseases. According to experts, health insurance lines will "reign" next year, when medical costs are forecast to increase.

Ngoc Minh