factors for difference among countries

Very good poster. Out of curiosity, what would be the main factors for differences of "Incidence & mortality rate of gastric cancer" in different countries? Equipment, expertise, social welfare systems, awareness raising, remoteness of hospitals, educational background....

Assoc. Prof. Tanaka

2021/10/18

factors for difference among countries

Thank you for the question. As you may know, Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is a strong inducer of gastric cancer. The region with high HP infection rate is a high-risk area for gastric cancer. For example, along the Silk Roads, HP infection rate and gastric cancer incidence rate is quite high. Regarding the mortality, there are 3 key factors: health check-up systems, access to the healthcare providers and medical resources. Although vast majority of patients with early gastric cancer is asymptomatic, most of the country don’t have a cheap health check-up system for asymptomatic citizens. In many developing countries, a few hours drive is needed to reach the neighboring clinics when the people have abdominal symptoms. And co-payment for endoscopic exam is quite high even in the developed countries if they don’t have good social health insurance. Furthermore, the number of endoscopists is very limited and their experiences and knowledge of endoscopy in not enough, because they had barely experienced early gastric cancer. The situation of the above 3 key factors is well organized in Japan.

Miho Hayata

2021/10/18

Thank you

Thank you for your answers!

Assoc. Prof. Tanaka

2021/10/20