Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 32:S1 (2002)
© 2002 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
Preface
This supplement to the Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology introduces cancer control programs in 13 Asian countries. The authors were participants at the First Asian Cancer Conference, entitled ‘Cancer in Asia: Present and Future’, held in Shizuoka, Japan, on December 14, 1998. The conference was held as a satellite meeting of the Shizuoka Forum on Health and Longevity, which has convened annually since 1995 with the aim of accumulating advanced knowledge useful for healthy longevity and spreading this knowledge to the general public, under the auspices of Shizuoka Prefecture.
The Asian Cancer Conference in Shizuoka was started against the following backdrop. In Japan, deaths caused by infectious diseases have declined rapidly since the middle of the twentieth century, resulting in one of the highest life expectancies in the world. Consequently, Japan is now confronted with an aging population and there has been a rapid increase in the incidence of such adult and geriatric diseases as cancer, ischemic diseases and cerebrovascular diseases. This is particularly true of cancer, which has been Japan’s leading cause of death since 1981. Recent statistics indicate that cancer is a contributory factor in one-third of all deaths nationwide. It is not too much to say that Japan is now amid a ‘Cancer Era’. To help combat cancer, Shizuoka Prefecture is establishing the Shizuoka Cancer Center, which will become one of the most advanced cancer centers in the world. The center will open in autumn 2002, with the aim of realizing patient-oriented medical and nursing care backed by the most advanced technology and implementing effective cancer control programs in the Shizuoka prefecture with a population of 3.7 million. In addition to medical facilities, sophisticated programs for cancer control are also important. The conference promoted mutual information exchange on cancer in Asian countries, resulting in the development of more effective measures for cancer control.
The participants of the First Asian Cancer Conference in Shizuoka were from 13 Asian countries: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. At midnight on the day before the conference, I wondered how many people lived in these 13 countries. I telephoned my son and asked him to send me a table of population statistics of the world from his junior high school textbook. I found that the total population of these 13 countries is three billion, or a half the world’s population. I realized then that this conference plays a very important role in controlling cancer, not only in Asia, but also around the world. And I believed it was necessary to publish the record of the conference to share ‘the Wisdom of Asia in Cancer Control’. This wish resulted in the publication of this supplement.
The Asian Cancer Conference in Shizuoka is held every year and continues to provide important information on cancer control from various Asian countries. In the second conference, entitled ‘Present Status and Issues Confronting Oncological Nursing in Asia’, held on October 22, 1999, we learned of the status of nursing care for cancer patients in seven Asian countries: China, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Third Asian Cancer Conference in Shizuoka was held on October 8, 2000, under the main theme of ‘Characteristic Cancers in Asian Countries’, with an aim of promoting understanding of efforts to control endemic cancers and to improve the cancer control systems in seven countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Thailand. In these three conferences, we learned unique and effective measures in various fields of cancer control, which should prove very informative for people worldwide. The records of the second and the third conferences have been published as independent proceedings of the Shizuoka Research Institute (9–18 Ohte-machi, Shizuoka 420-0583, Japan).
I hope that readers of this supplement experience the atmosphere of the conferences in the fight against cancer created by the participants and learn more about ‘the Wisdom of Asia in Cancer Control’.
Ken Yamaguchi
Chairperson, Steering Committee of the First Asian Cancer Conference in Shizuoka
Deputy Director, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Japan
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||