Current status of the management of cancer patients in Korea.
10.5124/jkma.2017.60.3.228
- Author:
Sun Keun CHOI
1
Author Information
1. Department of Surgery, Inha University Hospital, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea. karam66@inha.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Cancer care facilities;
Quality of life;
Multidisciplinary care;
Hospice care;
Palliative care
- MeSH:
Cancer Care Facilities;
Hospice Care;
Hospitals, Special;
Humans;
Incidence;
Korea*;
Mortality;
Palliative Care;
Public Health;
Quality of Life;
Survivors
- From:Journal of the Korean Medical Association
2017;60(3):228-232
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and poses a major threat to public health. Cancer incidence and death rates have increased in most countries since 1990. Therefore, the importance of systematic measures within the public health system, such as special hospitals for cancer patients, has been emphasized. Korea has established a 10-year plan to treat cancer patients and has implemented national cancer control policies (the 10-Year Plan for National Cancer Control) over the past 20 years, and these policies have resulted in dramatic breakthroughs in cancer survival. However, by focusing on the visible outcomes of cancer control, these policies have not shown adequate results in terms of building an integrated support system to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors or terminal cancer patients. In the future, the government should strive to build a comprehensive cancer management system that incorporates multipurpose integrated support measures, such as multidisciplinary, palliative, and hospice care.
