February 4 is World Cancer Day
About 17 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year, and 7. 6 million die of the disease worldwide.
Around 70% of cancer mortality is registered in developing and underdeveloped countries. Scientists estimate that many cancer deaths are caused by social and environmental conditions and unhealthy choices.
Therefore, it is essential to get appropriate health screenings to find potential problems early and get proper treatment to prevent more serious problems later. More people die from cancer than from AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis put together. Half of the deaths can be prevented if the disease is detected at an early stage.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 if no proper measures are taken to combat the disease.
The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) initiated the World Cancer Campaign in 2005 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. World Cancer Day targets the public through global communications marketing, and encourages policy makers and UICC member organizations to make cancer a political priority.
Armenians diagnosed with cancer are treated in the National Center of Oncology. In 2010, the center served 6200 patients. 3000 of them were operated on, Armenian Health Ministry reports.
