20% of deaths in Thailand blamed on cancer

Cancer is believed to be the No 1 killer in Thailand accounting for about 20 per cent of deaths in the country every year. In 2010 alone, 58,076 people succumbed to the disease.

"However, cancer is curable if symptoms are detected at an early stage," Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon said Friday at an event held to raise public awareness about cancer. February 4 is marked as World Cancer Day every year.

Dr Wilawan Jeungprasert, director-general of the Medical Services Department, said people over the age of 30 should undergo a checkup every year.

"Unusual bleeding or discharge, indigestion, sores that do not heal and recent changes in a wart or mole are among the signs of some types of cancer," she said.

The Nation