2. Burden of cervical cancer in Southeast Asia
2.1. Cervical cancer incidence and mortality
Cervical cancer is the leading cancer in women in Vietnam and
Thailand, and the second most common cancer in Malaysia, the
Philippines and Indonesia [1]. Furthermore, it is the most common
cause of death in women in Vietnam, the second in Indonesia and
the Philippines, third in Thailand and fourth in Malaysia [1].
In Southeast Asia, cervical cancer incidence (age-standardized
rate (ASR) 15.7 per 100,000) is similar for Indonesia and Malaysia.
Higher and similar ASRs are observed between the Philippines
(ASR: 20.9), Thailand (ASR: 19.8) and Vietnam (ASR: 20.2) [1].
Fig. 1 shows the ASR of cervical cancer in countries with existing
cancer registries and the high variability within Malaysia, the
Philippines and Thailand [2]. An ASR of 17.5 was reported in the
Rizal province of the Philippines (1993–1997) [3]; this rate does
not differ significantly fromrecent unpublished data nor from that
of Manila (ASR: 19.8). In Vietnam, the incidence is intermediate,