What is World Cancer Day?

World Cancer Day is an international day marked on February 4, to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.

World Cancer Day is led by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), which is an organization dedicated to increasing global cancer awareness, and is supported in this effort by WHO and other international organizations.

What is Cancer and what are its types?

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of a group of cells in the body. It happens when the body’s
normal control mechanism stops working. The old cells do not die and grow out of control,
forming new, abnormal cells.

Cancer may occur anywhere in the body if not detected at the right time and it can increase the risk of death. Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach, and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while the most common among women are breast, colorectal, lung, cervical, and thyroid cancer.

Cancer awareness has become exceedingly important in the 21st century.

What is the current scenario of cancer in the world

While there have been numerous advancements in the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer—factors that should contribute to the decline of the disease—the number of new cancer cases diagnosed each year has globally continued to increase.

There were 8.1 million new cases diagnosed in 1990, 10 million in 2000, 12.4 million in 2008, and 14.1 million in 2012. The number of annual deaths worldwide from cancer has also increased—from 5.2 million people in 1990 to 8.2 million people in 2012 to an estimated 9.6 million in 2018.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the incidence of cancer continues to
grow at the reported rate, the number of deaths worldwide from cancer will increase to more
than 16.3 million by 2040.

However, also according to WHO, as many as 40 percent of deaths from cancer are preventable. As a result, raising awareness of cancer prevention has become a prominent goal of many cancer and health organizations around the world.

What is the theme and target of World Cancer Day

The 2019-2021 campaign theme for World Cancer Day is ‘I Am and I Will’. The theme seeks to counter the negative attitude and fatalistic belief that nothing can be done about cancer,
and instead promotes how our personal actions can be powerful and impactful. In 2016, a
three-year campaign for this day was started under the tagline “We can. I can.”, which
explored the power of collective and individual actions to reduce the impact of cancer. Prior
to 2016, the campaign themes included “Not Beyond Us”; (2015) and “Debunk the Myths”
(2014).

World Cancer Day targets misinformation, raises awareness, and reduces stigma. Multiple
initiatives are run on World Cancer Day to show support for those affected by cancer. One of
these movements are #NoHairSelfie, a global movement to have “hairticipants” shave their heads either physically or virtually to show a symbol of courage for those undergoing cancer
treatment. Images of participants are then shared all over social media. Hundreds of events
around the world also take place.