PM2.5 pollution blamed for rising lung cancer cases, deaths in North
Northern Thailand, which chokes with heavy smog every year, has now been recording more than 2,400 new lung cancer cases per year with an average of 1,800 patients succumbing to the disease every year.
Dr Sakan Bunnag, deputy director-general of the Medical Services Department, said on Tuesday that there are more new lung cancer cases and lung cancer deaths in the North compared to other regions.
Without elaborating on figures from other regions, Sakan said an average of 2,487 new lung cancer cases are diagnosed in the North or an average of about seven new cases per day.
He said approximately 1,800 people succumbed to lung cancer per year in the North, or about five per day.
“And 80% of these patients are at least 60 years old,” Sakan added.
Several provinces in the North have been blanketed by smog caused by forest fires for months. Efforts to stop these fires have been futile as they restart as soon as they are put out.
Due to the high PM2.5 pollution caused by forest fires and the burning of farm waste, Chiang Mai has been ranked as the city with the worst air quality in the world several times this year.
PM2.5 refers to fine dust particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can lodge themselves in the lungs. PM2.5 pollution has been blamed for chronic lung and heart disease.
On Monday, Chiang Mai administration declared five districts on the border with Myanmar as disaster zones, saying transborder smog caused the air quality there to worsen.
Meanwhile, Dr Weerawat Ukkaranan, director of the Lampang Cancer Hospital, said lung cancer can be inherited or caused by exposure to cancer-inducing pollutants such as cigarettes and second-hand smoke. He added that PM2.5 was also considered a cause of lung cancer.
