Hong Kong government urged to cut cancer treatment waiting times, as some in the city wait up to 80 days to be seen
The Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society says the length of time to be seen by a doctor could be contributing to lower survival rate for some cancers in the city
Hong Kong’s oldest cancer prevention group has asked for the government to look into narrowing waiting times between disease diagnosis and first treatment at public hospitals, saying some patients had to wait up to 80 days.
This is the length of time people found to have colorectal cancer must wait before their receive treatment, with the waiting time 66 days for breast cancer and 54 days for nasopharyngeal cancer, according to the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society on Saturday, quoting a Hospital Authority report.
In 2015, a total of 5,036 new cases of colorectal cancer were reported – or 16.6 per cent of all new cancer cases.
“Although we want to do more prevention, more than 50 per cent of cancer is not yet preventable and good treatment is important,” said Professor Anne Lee Wing-mui, the society’s vice-chairwoman.
“But from a Hospital Authority report, the waiting time from diagnosis to first treatment was long. Particularly worrisome is colorectal cancer at 80 days.”
