4 February is World Cancer Day
Baku, February 4 (AZERTAC). World Cancer Day is marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. It is led by the Union for International Cancer Control, a global consortium of more than 470 cancer-fighting organisations in over 120 countries. World Cancer Day targets the public through global communications, and encourages policy makers and UICC member organisations to make cancer a political priority.
WCD is an initiative of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), a leading international non-governmental organisation dedicated to the prevention and control of cancer worldwide. Founded in 1933 and based in Geneva, UICC`s growing membership of over 460 organisations across 120 countries, features the world`s major cancer societies, ministries of health, research institutes, treatment centres and patient groups. Additionally, the organisation is a founding member of the NCD Alliance, a global civil society network that now represents almost 2,000 organisations in 170 countries.
UICC also has responsibility for: • The World Cancer Declaration - a tool to help bring the growing cancer crisis to the attention of government leaders and health policymakers in order to significantly reduce the global cancer burden by 2020 • World Cancer Congress - a biannual event at which the international cancer control community gather to meet, discuss, share, learn and connect in order to find solutions to reduce the impact of cancer on communities around the world. Next meeting is in Montréal, Canada from 27-30 August 2012 • World Cancer Leaders` Summit - the most important annual high level policy meeting dedicated exclusively to furthering global cancer control.
WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialized cancer agency of WHO, collaborate with other United Nations organizations and partners in the areas of international cancer prevention and control to: increase political commitment for cancer prevention and control; generate new knowledge, and disseminate existing knowledge to facilitate the delivery of evidence-based approaches to cancer control; develop standards and tools to guide the planning and implementation of interventions for prevention, early detection, treatment and care; facilitate broad networks of cancer control partners at global, regional and national levels; strengthen health systems at national and local levels; provide technical assistance for rapid, effective transfer of best practice interventions to developing countries; and coordinate and conduct research on the causes of human cancer, the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and develop scientific strategies for cancer prevention and control.
World Cancer Day (WCD) is the one singular initiative under which the entire world can unite together in the fight against the global cancer epidemic. WCD takes place ever year on 4 February.
What are the aims of World Cancer Day? WCD aims to help save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about cancer, and pressing to governments across the world to take action against the disease.
World Cancer Day 2012 is particularly important as it falls almost half a year after the first High-Level UN Summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the signing of the Political Declaration supporting prevention and control of these devastating conditions, which includes cancer.
WCD is therefore a key opportunity for everyone affected by cancer to work together to ensure that world leaders stick to the promises they made at the UN Summit in relation to reducing the impact of cancer. In particular too: • Develop targets and indicators to measure the implementation of policies and approaches to prevent and control cancer • Raise the priority accorded to cancer in the global development agenda • Promote a multisectoral response to cancer.
In addition, WCD 2012 is a crucial vehicle for people around the world to use to convince their governments to commit to reducing avoidable deaths from NCDs by 25% by 2025 - a target the World Health Organization believes to be achievable, but that significantly was not included in the UN Political Declaration on NCDs. Why is WCD so important? Put simply, because the global cancer epidemic is huge and is set to rise. Every month 600,000 people die of cancer and many of these deaths can be avoided with increased governmental support and funding for prevention, detection and treatment programmes. Unless urgent action is taken to raise awareness about cancer and develop practical strategies to address the disease, millions of people will continue to die prematurely from the disease.
Significantly, the number of cancer cases and related deaths worldwide is estimated to double over the next 20-40 years. With the greatest increase in low and middle income countries, those least equipped to cope with both the social and economic impact of the disease.
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