World Cancer Day 2021
It was World Cancer Day on 4th February. 🗺
Some sobering statistics:
📍 Every year 9.6 million people die from cancer (Globocan 2018)
📍 Up to 3.7 million lives could be saved each year by implementing appropriate strategies for prevention, early detection and treatment. (Knaul 2012)
📍 27% of cancers relate to tobacco and alcohol use (WHO)
📍 The total global economic cost of cancer is 1.16USD trillion (Knaul 2012)
📍 Around 70% of all cancer deaths occur in the least developed parts of the world (WHO)
👉🏽It is important to recognise cancer symptoms and get help early. Please see your GP/doctor if you have any health concerns. (See infographic for some of the symptoms). A recent systematic review in the BMJ (Hanna et al 2020) shows that even a four week delay of cancer treatment is associated with increased death rate for seven types of cancers.
🙏🏽Do no fall into the trap of miracle cures. There is no evidence that supplement/herbal products can miraculously cure cancer. A paper by Johnson et al (JAMA Oncology 2018) shows that cancer patients who initially chose alternative medicine therapies (unproven treatment) as the sole treatment for their cancers were more than twice as likely to die compared with patients who chose to undergo conventional cancer treatment (modern medicine). So, please listen to your doctor, do not listen to “influencers” on social media or testimonies from your aunt or your neighbours or product founders/sellers.
📖Please do further reading from trusted resources such as Cancer Research UK or Macmillan Cancer Support and listen to your doctor’s advice.
References:
Knaul et al 2012 Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries. Closing the Cancer Divide: An Equity Imperative.