It will be run by the Crown Prince Hospital Foundation and the Kanchanabarami Foundation.

Public Health inspector-general Somyos Deeratsami said the scheme would promote healthy dietary habits and offer free tests for early-stage cancers in the cervix, liver, breast, lung, mouth and prostate gland for 1,200

poor people who had no other opportunity to have their health checked.

These types of cancer caused 45,000 deaths a year in Thailand, with liver cancer topping the list followed by lung, cervical, and breast cancer, said caretaker Public Health Minister Pinij Charusombat, who presided over the launch.

There were 12,869 deaths from liver cancer in 2004 - and over half of them were in the Northeast, where people like eating improperly-cooked fish and fermented food, while eating only small amounts of fruit and vegetables, he said.

People needed to change their eating habits to include at least half a kilogram of fresh vegetables and fruits a day, and to reduce intake of fatty and undercooked food, the minister said.

A campaign to encourage rural people to exercise more and to eat fresh fruits or vegetables with

half their meals is set to be launched in Ubon Ratchathani, Si Sa Ket, Yasothon and Amnat Charoen.

The ministry wanted hospitals to be more alert for patients at risk of cancer and to provide proper treatment for as many as possible, Pinij said.

The early stages of liver cancer showed few or no symptoms. Victims might later experience weakness, weight loss, low fever, loss of appetite, stabbing pain in the right upper abdominal area, and jaundice. When cancer was finally diagnosed, patients often died in three to six months, deputy permanent secretary for Public Health, Manit Teeratantikanon said.

Those most at risk were people with hepatitis B, heavy drinkers, and those who regularly ate improperly cooked or fermented food.

But if the disease was diagnosed in the early stage, patients could be cured, he said.

The Nation

YASOTHON