Cheaper cancer drugs not the be all, end all

CHINA REMOVED IMPORT TARIFFS on cancer drugs from May 1, and lowered the value added tax on the drugs as well from May 3. Voice of China estimates the two moves combined save patients about 1,000 yuan ($158) a year on average. Guangming Daily commented on Monday:

China Anti-Cancer Association statistics indicate that 4.29 million people were diagnosed with cancer in China last year, 22 percent of the world's total new cancer cases during that period.

China accounted for 27 percent of cancer-caused deaths in the world last year.

The zero-tariffs and VAT cuts on imported drugs are only a temporary move to relieve the patients' financial burden. For although the country is the largest market for cancer drugs, it is still not a strong power in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in cancer therapeutics and cancer drugs.

Chinese pharmaceutical companies must step up their research and development of cancer medicines to make China self-reliant as soon as possible.

More important still, the whole nation should raise its awareness in cancer prevention, diagnosis and early treatment, which is the most effective way to reduce the incidence of cancers.

People should pay more attention to developing healthy lifestyles and habits. Take smoking for instance, which has been proved to cause lung cancer. Despite this, the size of China's smoking population, 350 million, has largely remained unchanged, if not slightly increased, since China joined the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003.

The government has every reason to take the initiative to raise awareness of cancer risks as a long-term national-level public health campaign. This makes more sense than simply making cancer therapeutics more affordable and prolonging cancer patients' lives in their sickbeds.