Are cancer maps a good idea?

Sunday, 12 February 2012

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Healthcare IT

By Robin Hicks | 21 June 2010

The New York State Department of Health recently launched a series of ‘cancer maps’ which allow users to view incidences of cancer in a given geographical area. These maps, which are freely available online, are not without controversy. Could the idea work in Asia?

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The maps, which include raw data on diagnosis rates and certain types of cancer, allow users to overlay data such as chemical storage and hazardous waste facilities and commercial pesticide sellers by inputting an address or ZIP code.

The idea is to help people understand the distribution and burden of cancer in their communities, and to help scientists spot trends.

The Department of Health has made clear that the maps cannot prove direct links between environmental facilities and cancer, but has said that they could be a valuable first step in understanding the correlations between the two. Warnings have been put on the site to make clear that the raw data must be carefully interpreted.

Is this an idea that could be introduced in Asia?

Dr Fawzi Amin, Assistant Undersecretary for Training & Planning, Ministry of Health, Bahrain, told FutureGov that cancer maps would be most useful for big countries with populations living in isolated areas. “With a small country like Bahrain, however, which has a population that moves in dynamic ways, it would be difficult to relate cause with any disease, especially cancer, which has several etiological causes.”

Amin points to a recent case in Bahrain when a Member of Parliament accused an oil refinery in his area of being responsible for a rise in the incidences of certain cancer type. “He said the refinery was causing cancer in his area without considering age distribution as a causal factor of that type of cancer. This is just one risk of linking the geographical area with the incidence of chronic diseases.”

The New York cancer map idea was initially opposed by the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Department of Health when the bill was passed in 2008. Concerns were raised over how the raw data could be interpreted, the work needed to collect data, and privacy issues. However, an amendment to the bill removed a requirement for the collection of data on cancer sufferers’ family, work and residential history, and the bill is now supported by the ACS.