以“癌症村”为例的环境与健康问题管理研究——中美癌症集群现象的比较分析

Cancer Clusters: A Comparative Analysis of China and the USA

环境与健康问题是中国当前亟待解决的重大问题。部分地区出现疑似或已确认的癌症聚集现象,经济活动产生的环境污染被认为是导致这一现象的重要原因,引起政府和公众的极大关注。论文介绍中国和美国的癌症集群现象,并从定义、现状、政府的回应措施、癌症聚集的真实性以及原因等多个角度进行比较分析。美国每年收到大量关于疑似癌症集群现象的报告,经调查只有部分社区被证实为癌症集群;中国的癌症集群现象以新闻媒体报道的“癌症村”为主,大部分地区缺乏卫生部门的介入调查或者调研报告的公布。农业污染是新闻媒体报道美国癌症集群时最常出现的环境因素,中国癌症村最常提及的环境因素则是工业污染。美国对癌症集群的回应形成了一套规范的处理流程,对癌症集群的调查提供专门的法律支撑和财政支持;中国尚未明确负责处理癌症集群现象的责任主体,公众对癌症村现象的了解还停留在新闻媒体报道所制造的恐慌中。

Environmental health is a major issue that need to be addressed urgently in China. The occurrence of suspected or confirmed cancer clusters have caused concerns from governments and the public. The environmental pollution caused by economic activities is often blamed for this. This paper comparatively analyzed the phenomenon of cancer clusters in China and the United States, along the dimensions of definition, distribution, cancer type, the verification and causes of cancer clusters in these two countries. The United States receives a large number of reports of suspected cancer clusters every year, and only some communities are confirmed to be cancer clusters after investigation. In China, most of the cancer clusters are reported by the media. The investigation of the government and academic researcher is limited. The agricultural pollution and industrial pollution have been blamed as the cause for cancer cluster respectively in the US and China. In both of the two countries, the exact environmental exposure factors of cancer clusters have yet to be studied. The U.S. has formed a set of standardized processing procedures, with dedicated legal and financial support. China has not yet identified the main department responsible for dealing with the phenomenon of cancer clusters, and the public′s understanding of the phenomenon of cancer villages mainly comes from news media.