With one in five people worldwide developing cancer during their lifetimes, prevention of the disease has become one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century.
Cervical cancer kills more than 300,000 women every year, with one woman diagnosed every minute, despite the fact that it is one of the most preventable and curable forms of the disease.
The pain that cancer patients experience as a result of the disease, or the treatment they are receiving, is too often ignored, UN health experts said on Monday, at the launch of new guidelines aiming to prevent “needless suffering”.
For World Cancer Day, on 4 February, Dr Etienne Krug from the World Health Organization (WHO), talks to Sarah Mbengue from UN News about the progress so far, and global challenges that remain in tackling the disease.
Longer life spans combined with risk factors such as alcohol and tobacco use, physical inactivity and obesity, are behind a rise in cancer cases in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns.
The UN agency estimates rates in these regions could jump by as much as 70 per cent over the next 15 years unless action is taken.
WHO is highlighting the importance of early detection ahead of World Cancer Day, observed this Sunday, 4 February.
Diagnosing and treating cancer early can improve the chances of survival for people living with the disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Launched ahead of World Cancer Day observed annually on 4 February, new guidelines from the agency call for more access to effective diagnostic services, including imagining, laboratory tests and pathology.
About one-third of cancer cases can be prevented by limiting tobacco use, lowering alcohol consumption and doing more exercise.
That’s according to the World Health Organization (WHO) which predicts global cancer cases will rise to more than 20 million annually over the next two decades.