If You Get Cancer... 'Money' Is the Biggest Concern

National Cancer Center exterior view (Photo by National Cancer Center)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Koreans are most concerned about the financial burden of treatment when diagnosed with cancer.

The National Cancer Center recently conducted a survey on cancer awareness among 2,000 adult men and women nationwide. According to the results, 33.0% of all respondents identified 'financial burden of treatment' as their biggest concern when diagnosed with cancer. This was followed by 'fear of death' at 17.6%, ranking second. In a previous 2008 survey, the top concerns when diagnosed with cancer were also the financial burden of treatment (67.5%) and fear of death (12.0%), ranking first and second respectively.

Regarding the level of cancer-related treatment in Korea, 93.3% of respondents perceived it as 'similar to advanced countries' or 'higher.' This represents an increase of 53.1% compared to 2012 and 5.8% compared to 2019, indicating a steady rise in awareness and trust in Korea's cancer treatment standards.

When asked whether cancer prevention is possible, 74.2% answered 'yes,' and 61.7% expected a complete cure if diagnosed with cancer, reflecting very high trust in the expertise of domestic medical professionals and medical technology.

Meanwhile, when asked which cancer-related specialized institution first comes to mind, 23.4% responded 'National Cancer Center,' the highest proportion. The preferred medical institution for treatment upon cancer diagnosis was also the 'National Cancer Center,' with 28.1% showing the highest preference.

Seo Hong-gwan, Director of the National Cancer Center, explained, "The number of newly diagnosed cancer patients each year is about 250,000, and the number of cancer survivors approaches 2.15 million. The 5-year survival rate for cancer patients is also steadily increasing to 70.7%, making cancer a disease that coexists with us but is conquerable." He added, "As the nation's leading cancer management institution, the National Cancer Center will work with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to reduce the public burden of cancer through early screening, promotion of cancer prevention guidelines, awareness improvement, and leading research and development in cancer diagnosis and treatment technologies."

This survey was conducted by the Korea Management Association Consulting, a public opinion research organization, from October 1 to 14 last year, targeting 2,000 adult men and women aged 20 to 69 nationwide. The confidence level is 95%, with a margin of error of ±3.10%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.