Today is World Cancer Day: Realizing the Problem
Today is World Cancer Day. World Cancer Day is a great way for the world to unite against cancer. It does this by teaching people about the many preventable deaths caused by cancer and puts pressure on governments and individuals to act against the devastating disease. It occurs every year on February 4th and is put on by the Union for International Cancer Control. The focus of the day is awareness, improving education, and creating personal and government action against cancer to help stop preventable cancer deaths. It also wants to ensure there is equitable access to cancer care for all people.
Word Cancer Day started in 2000 and since then it has grown into a powerful way to teach people about the devastating effects of cancer. Cancer is a group of abnormal cells growing uncontrollably and spreading throughout the body, which is often deadly. Cancer causes around 10 million deaths worldwide and one third of these deaths are preventable. It is the second leading cause of death worldwide. It is estimated that around 70 percent of cancer deaths occur in low to middle income countries and if more money was allocated for prevention, early detection, and treatment, millions of lives could be saved every year.
This year’s Cancer Day theme is part of an overall three-year campaign called Close the Care Gap. This year is focused on realizing the problem. It is to raise awareness about the inequities of cancer care around the world. It can help raise awareness to the fact that inequity in cancer care costs lives; people hit barriers when trying to access cancer care; and income, education, location, and discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and lifestyle can all limit care. The gap in care negatively affects everyone around the world, including the person reading this. Barriers to care do not have to exist and can be eliminated so everyone can have access to life saving cancer treatment.
Getting involved in World Cancer Day can help spread the word about the event and the dangers of cancer. If you would like to participate in an in-person activity, click here to see if one is near you. If an event is not near you, create an event like a free cancer screening, record breaking attempt, conference, or fundraiser. Since cancer does not occur only one day a year, events can occur before or after World Cancer Day occurs. You can also speak about cancer with family members, friends, and colleagues. Another great way to participate is to research cancer and inform yourself about the disease and how it impacts yourself and others around the world. Finally you can create posts using official social media cover images or if you can, donate to help close the care gap. All donations go to support UICC Technical Fellowships for applicants that are from low- and middle-income countries. It will help develop knowledge and skills for all parts of cancer control.
If you have cancer through no fault of your own, contact us today to see if you could be entitled to compensation by calling 412-471-3980 or by filling out our contact form. If you fill out our contact form, a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
Sources:
“About Us” World Cancer Day [Link]
“About World Cancer Day” UICC [Link]
“Close the Care Gap” World Cancer Day [Link]
“What is Cancer?” World Cancer Day [Link]
