The World Cancer Day observed on 4th of February every year — besides emphasizing on a concerning theme regarding cancer awareness, also envisage an attempt to acknowledge, encourage and motivate people to go for screening of their body for various cancers to ensure prompt early prevention and care.
Cancer is a treatable disease if detected and diagnosed at early stages — that is why cancer screening is crucial — and there are several screening tests available to screen for multiple cancers of the body.
Moreover, there is a need to create awareness in the society and properly educate the people regarding various cancers of the body and their prevention, in particular oncologists have an important role to play in fostering cancer awareness and education among the people.
While there is a deep rise of cancer cases since last decade, it is need of the hour to augment cancer cure and “close the care gap” — which is about understanding the inequities in cancer care and taking steps to make the necessary progress to address them.
More to say, people should adopt healthy lifestyle choices like avoid smoking and alcohol consumption, avoid uneven exposure to harmful chemicals, besides maintain a healthy weight, ensure healthy diet and physical activity in their routine lifestyle — to reduce the risk of cancer.
(Author is a medical doctor, public speaker and columnist. Email: [email protected])
