Raw fish cancer alert

Liver cancers and other illnesses will increase in Asia unless more is done to prevent people becoming infected with worms from eating raw fish, according to scientists meeting in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

Scientists from around the world have gathered at a UN-sponsored workshop on food-borne trematodes - or worms.

They say these could threaten poverty reduction and economic development unless governments give higher priority to preventing the diseases they cause.

Raw fish is eaten across many parts of Asia where it is traditionally considered healthy and, in China for example, an essential dish when entertaining.

Fish production has been encouraged as a development strategy because fish has been cheap, plentiful and a good source of protein.

Raw fish is fashionable in urban areas well beyond Japanese sushi bars but the health risks are considerable.

The World Health Organisation estimates that 40 million people are affected by worms.

They are passed from snails to fish and onto the kitchen table. They go back into the food chain when human faeces are fed into fishponds.

Repeated infestations can lead to lung disease and liver cancer.

Treatment simple

Yet the treatment involves a simple pill taken once a year, which costs less than 20 US cents.

The scientists at the Hanoi conference say the problem is a combination of ignorance, lack of access to basic health care, and the cost of supplying drugs to the poorest countries.

The trematodes also threaten exports of sea food products from Asia.

The scientists are expected to end their conference with a call for more research to better understand the life-cycle and impact of the parasites.

But they acknowledge that continued progress against the worm needs stronger co-operation between governments and industry - to end what they say are years of neglect.