World Cancer Day: Arm Yourself With the Facts

An initiative by Union for International Cancer Control, Switzerland, World Cancer Day is a world wide event to raise awareness and education around the fatal disease. The theme for this year is #WeCanICan, which was started in the year 2016 and is to go on till 2018.

This day is the perfect opportunity to gather facts, grapple with reality and get head on with work, research, support, solutions, to help wipe off this disease that is increasingly affecting millions.

Currently, 8.2 million people die from cancer worldwide every year, out of which, 4 million people die prematurely (aged 30 to 69 years)

Heather Bryant, VP, Cancer Control, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer says, "On World Cancer Day, we have an opportunity to collectively examine cancer control strategies to identify winning formulas that will accelerate progress. The goal for all of us is to ensure fewer people develop cancer, more people are successfully treated and that there is a better quality of life for people during treatment and beyond.” (Source: worldcancerday.org)

The theme of We Can, I Can is explained in these simple terms:

We can:

Stop myths that lead to stigma against cancer patients

Encourage schools to educate children on how to prevent cancer

Demand governments increase funding for cancer treatment facilities

I can:

Stop smoking for good

Learn about the signs and symptoms linked to cancer

Return back to work after cancer treatment, to give it the biggest insult of all

Even today, with the advent of technology and science, cancer still haunts the lives of millions of people. According to studies, lung cancer is by far the biggest killer.

Every year lung cancer takes the lives of around 1.4 million people globally

Stomach cancer is the second biggest killer, with around 740,000 deaths per year, and liver cancer is third with 700,000 per year

Most of recorded cancer cases are found in developed countries, namely in North America, Oceania and Western Europe

(Source: ibtimes.co.uk)

Cancer and Women

• According to India Spend, deaths due to ovarian cancer rose 123 per cent between 1990 and 2013
• Women's cancer rates are rising 6 times as fast as men's
• Four percent of all cancers in women are cases of ovarian cancer
• Only one in three patients with ovarian cancer survive for longer than ten years
• Breast cancer accounts for 27 percent of all cancers in women in India alone, according to cancerindia.org

A regular check up with the doctor is a must.

Doctors suggest getting a annual full body check up which should remove any doubts and questions that may be bothering you. Women especially need to be educated about breast cancer and how they can prevent it. Timely intervention can make the world of difference, so do take those self-exams seriously, and ideally start going for regular checkups.

These statistics are shocking, but this is what we need to learn today. The fight is still on and we haven't emerged victorious yet. The best we can do is get the right information, and educate ourselves to know the signs and symptoms of the disease so as to prevent ourselves from succumbing to it.

Picture Credit: royalsurrey.nhs