Ministry panel approves plan to reduce cancer death rate by 20%

A health ministry panel promoting measures to tackle cancer on Wednesday approved a draft basic plan to reduce by 20 percent the rate of people who die from cancer below the age of 75 within 10 years, panel members said.

The plan to deal with the nation's No. 1 killer will be discussed by ministries concerned and formally endorsed by the government at a Cabinet meeting in June. Prefectural governments will be urged to compile their own measures based on the basic plan.

Tadao Kakizoe, who heads the panel and the Japan Cancer Society, said after the panel meeting, "We believe that things needed for tackling cancer have basically been covered. The issue from now on is how the budget will be earmarked."
But the panel failed to include in the draft its goal to halve the number of adult smokers, even though it had reached agreement on the matter.

Based on a cancer-fighting law put into force in April, the basic plan is designed to set the basic direction of tackling cancer in the next five years.

The day's panel meeting was attended by experts, patients and their families.

Besides reducing cancer deaths, the draft plan sets a goal of "reducing the pain of the patients and families as well as maintaining and improving their quality of life."

It also calls for focusing on several areas which require more efforts in the nation, such as promoting radiation and chemical treatment, and fostering such specialists, and conducting palliative care on patients from the early treatment stage.

As numerical targets, the draft plan includes having all doctors working on cancer treatment to acquire the basic knowledge of palliative care within 10 years and reducing the number of people aged below 20 who smoke to 0 percent within three years.

On opinions not included in the draft plan such as on the numerical target to reduce the adult smoking rate, the panel plans to produce a separate document which would put forth such opinions as "measures against tobacco are important and it is recommended to set a numerical target of reducing smoking rate."