Vietnam National Cancer Institute - A History of its Development.

At the beginning of the century, in the preparation for an extensive and long-term colonial exploitation, beside the investment on construction of infrastructure, French colonists opened a range of schools and training institutions including a medical school (founded 1902) to train local intellectuals for their future purposes. A range of indigenous protectorate hospitals were also established. The Institute of Radium of Indochina, a private organization and the only one in Indochina at the time, was founded on the 19th, October, 1923. In this period the institute had a different name: Institute du Radium de l’Indochine, Institute de Curie de l’Indochine, Fondation de Curie. The first director of Institute was Dr Pierre Moullin. In the initial period the institute in fact had a total of 4 directors, all of them French. Initially, the institute had the functions of a research institute with the four following goals: 1. Build up in Hanoi and other provinces of Indochina Radiotherapy units (Institut de Radium Therapie et Roentgentherapie) 2. Research and monitor cancer problems 3. Organize cancer control units 4. Treat cancer patients Vietnam National Cancer Institute A History of its Development