The NCD Alliance-Pakistan (NCDA-Pak) and Coalition for Tobacco Control-Pakistan (CTC-Pak) urged the government of Pakistan to put more emphasis on cancer reduction and provide facilitation at national level to all citizens of Pakistan keeping in view the expensive treatment of the life-threatening disease.
Khurram Hashmi, National Co-ordinator, Coalition for Tobacco Control (CTC-Pak) and spokesperson for NCDs Alliance-Pakistan (NCDA-Pak) said here on Tuesday that it is a matter of great concern that there is no proper reporting mechanism of cancer patients in Pakistan and the treatment of disease is out of the reach of general public. About 30% of cancer deaths are due to the 5 leading behavioural and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol use. It is pertinent to know that tobacco use is the most important risk factor for cancer causing over 20% of global cancer deaths and about 70% of global lung cancer deaths.
According to World Health Organisation, cancer is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality world-wide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012. The number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70% over the next two decades. Statistics reveals that 5 most common types of cancer diagnosed in men were lung, prostate, colorectum, stomach and liver while in case of women, the 5 common types were breast, colorectum, lung, cervix and stomach cancer.
In Pakistan, around 300,000 people contract cancer each year of which (according to Karachi Cancer Registry) an estimated 7000 to 7500 are children. Smoking is also a major participant in cardiovascular diseases. Tobacco kills more than 5 million people a year, that's an average of one person every six seconds. It means that's one out of ten adult deaths world-wide is caused by tobacco related illnesses. When it comes to cancer, smoking is identified as the biggest health hazard world-wide that causes lung Cancer, Mouth Cancer, Throat Cancer, Nose and sinuses Cancer, Liver Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, stomach Cancer, Cervix Cancer and Breast Cancer.
On World Cancer Day, NCDA-Pak and CTC-Pak stand in solidarity with global campaign for raising voice on cancer awareness and to make Pakistan a tobacco free country. Smoke free environments can reduce the risk of such diseases a great deal and Coalition for Tobacco Control has been working with Government of Pakistan for enforcement of tobacco control policies promoting smoke-free environment throughout the country.
Nadeem Iqbal Executive Co-ordinator of TheNetwork for Consumer Protection while talking to media here on Tuesday expressed his concerns over the rising trend of smoking and incidence of cancer in Pakistan. Pakistan is observing World Cancer Day (February 4, 2015) with the rising awareness about the disease's devastating impact on health. However, despite all such awareness campaigns and commitments the disease is steadily on the rise and every year nearly 80,000 Pakistanis lose their battle of life against cancer. It is an undeniable fact that after cardiovascular disease, cancer is the second biggest killer in the world and there were an estimated 8.2 million deaths from cancer in 2012. In Pakistan alone, there are more than 1.4 million cancer patients.