World Cancer Day – 4th February

World Cancer Day is on February 4th, to make people aware of the risk factors and preventive measures that one can take to get prevented. The primary goal of World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer.

The 2024 World Cancer Day marks the third year to the 3-year campaign “Close the Care Gap”. This second year is about uniting individuals, organizations, advocates, and policymakers in calling for change and taking action.

History

The day was founded on February 2000, during the World Cancer Conference for the New Millennium in Paris, France. Its aim, is to bring people together to reimagine a world where millions of preventable cancer deaths are saved and access to life-saving cancer treatment and care is equal for all – no matter who you are or where you live.

2019 was the first year of the three-year ‘I Am and I Will’ campaign, with supporters, encouraged to reflect on what they could to do reduce the impact of cancer for themselves, their community, and the wider world. The new theme serves as a powerful reminder that no matter who we are, we all have a positive and important role to play in creating a world without cancer.

It is an initiative of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) under which the entire world can unite together in the fight against the global cancer epidemic.

Cancer is undoubtedly one of the biggest global threats to human health – but today, we know more about it than ever before. Thanks to these developments and innovations, there have been extraordinary breakthroughs in scientific knowledge, medicine, causes, and diagnostics.

Awareness of cancer risks

The survey’s results show that there is generally a high level of cancer awareness among the surveyed population globally.

Tobacco use (63%), exposure to harmful UV rays (54%), and exposure to tobacco smoke from others (50%) appear to be the most recognized factors that can increase a person’s risk of cancer.
Meanwhile, a lack of exercise (28%), exposure to certain viruses or bacteria (28%), and being overweight (29%) appear to be the least recognized cancer risk factors.
However, individuals from a lower-income household bracket in the countries surveyed are less likely to recognize cancer risk factors than those from higher-income households.
In all areas except tobacco use, this trend can also be seen when comparing people surveyed who have not completed a university education to those with university educations.

You can help reduce your risk of cancer by making healthy choices like eating right, staying active, and not smoking.

Cancer Control: Knowledge into Action,

WHO Guide for Effective Programmes is a series of six modules, to be published during 2006, on how to develop and implement an effective Cancer Control Plan.

Each year, hundreds of activities and events take place around the world, gathering communities, organizations, and individuals in schools, businesses, hospitals, marketplaces, parks, community halls, places of worship – in the streets and online – acting as a powerful reminder that we all have a role to play in reducing the global impact of cancer.

Irrespective of where people live in the world, those surveyed with lower education and those on lower incomes appear less aware of the main risk factors associated with cancer and appear less likely to proactively take the steps needed to reduce their cancer risk than those from a high-income household.