With a view to raising public awareness about the disease of cancer, 'World Cancer Day' is being observed in Pakistan like other parts of the world on February 4. To mark the day, scientific symposiums, awareness seminar, walks and other functions will be held to apprise the participants about updates in the prevention of cancer. This year's theme is "cancer can be prevented too."
Cancer is an important factor in the global burden of disease and the estimated number of new cases each year is expected to rise to 15 million by 2025, with 60 percent of those cases occurring in developing countries, health professionals told Business Recorder.
According to them, cancer is the uncontrolled growth and spread of cells that can affect almost any part of the body. Avoiding exposure to common risk factors, such as tobacco smoke can prevent many cancers. In addition, surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy can cure a significant proportion of cancers, especially if they are detected early. There are many types of cancer and any organ in the body can become cancerous.
In Pakistan, cancers of breast, oral cavity, lung, oesophagus and bladder are common. Pakistan like other developing countries in the region is facing a double burden of diseases with a significant incidence of cancers and a rising trend in risk factor's profile and incidence itself. The precise incidence, mortality rates, number of new cancer cases and number of deaths annually for Pakistan are not known, however, estimates show about 62,000 incident cases and 43,000 cancer deaths annually in males and 76,000 incident cases and over 42,000 deaths annually in females are reported. In Pakistan, a large proportion of cancers presents at an advanced age.
Health professionals believe that lack of awareness about cancers, their signs and symptoms, is one of the major causes of delayed presentation. They said, "Tobacco is the single largest preventable cause of cancer in the world today. It causes 80-90 percent of all lung cancer deaths, and about 30 percent of all cancer deaths in developing countries, including deaths from cancer of the oral cavity, larynx, oesophagus and stomach."
They were of the view that dietary modification is another important approach to cancer control. "There is a link between overweight and obesity to many types of cancer such as oesophagus, colorectum, breast, endometrium and kidney. Diets high in fruits and vegetables may have a protective effect against many cancers," they said, adding the regular physical activity and the maintenance of a healthy body weight, along with a healthy diet, will considerably reduce cancer risk.
Elaborating, they said infectious agents are responsible for almost 22 percent of cancer deaths in the developing world and 6 percent in industrialised countries. Viral hepatitis B and C cause cancer of the liver; human papilloma virus infection causes cervical cancer; the bacterium Helicobacter pylori increases the risk of stomach cancer. In some countries the parasitic infection schistosomiasis increases the risk of bladder cancer and in other countries the liver fluke increases the risk of cholangiocarcinoma of the bile ducts. Preventive measures include vaccination and prevention of infection and infestation, they said.
Speaking on the occasion, Omer Aftab, National Co-ordinator of the Pink Ribbon said that Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer for any Asian population accounting to over 40,000 deaths every year whereas the information available on breast cancer is very insignificant with only advanced cases of breast cancer being reported. On the other hand the total spending on health sector is dismally low, 0.57 percent of the GDP, whereas in South Asian Region it is 4.7 percent of GDP, he said.
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