The Ministry of Health and Human Services joins the world in recognizing World Cancer Day (WCD), which is celebrated each Year on February 4th. This important health awareness day is spearheaded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), which is comprised of more than 470 cancer-fighting organizations from over 120 countries, including TCI and other Caribbean countries.
World Cancer Day is the singular initiative under which the entire world, including persons affected by cancer, can unite in the fight against the global cancer epidemic by raising awareness and focusing on prevention, early detection, and treatment. It also encourages policy makers in countries and UICC member organizations to make addressing cancer-related health concerns a political priority and to ensure that world leaders keep promises, such as those made at the recent UN Summit, in relation to reducing the impact of cancer.
This would help to achieve the WCD goal of reducing the number of preventable cancer deaths each year.
It is estimated that each year, globally, about 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and 8 million people die from the disease. Also, the number of cancer cases and related deaths worldwide are projected to double over the next 20 to 40 years. The greatest increase is expected to take place in low and middle income countries (LMICs), which are least equipped to cope with both the social and economic burden of the disease. Many Caribbean countries are numbered among LMICs.
In the Caribbean, cancers are the second leading cause of death. The TCI is no exception. In 2013, cancers were also the second leading cause of death. Nearly one half of cancers are preventable or treatable if detected early.
Empowering people affected by cancer to make healthy choices; providing universal access to screening, early detection and treatment programmes; and improving the quality of life would make meaningful contributions to achieving the global goal of reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025 and achieving the targets of the World Cancer Declaration.
The following four key areas of focus of the 2015 WCD Campaign under the theme ‘Not beyond us’ have important implications for the Caribbean and TCI:
-Choosing healthy lives
– Delivering early detection
-Achieving treatment for all
– Maximising quality of life
The Ministry of Health and Human Services continues to promote the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviours and obtaining the required screening and check-ups to reduce the risk of developing cancers and other diseases. Reduction in modifiable risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol are also essential to reduce the risk of developing cancer. Early detection is vitally important to the management of all diseases, including cancers. Indeed, cancer prevention and management is “not beyond us” in TCI.
