World Cancer Day is being observed today

Feb 4 Today is World Cancer Day. It is an annual event that aims to raise awareness about cancer and to encourage efforts in prevention, detection, and treatment of the disease. The theme of this year is "Cancer - Did you know?" It focuses on destroying myths and misconceptions about the disease. This theme is part of the World Cancer Declaration, adopted by the United Nations in 2011. In this year's endeavours, the key myths that are being highlighted are that cancer is just a health issue, and that the disease only affects the wealthy, the elderly, and developed countries. This World Cancer Day event is a substantial initiative held under the guidance of Union for International Cancer Control, endorsed by more than 400 member organisations across 120 countries. The Union for International Cancer Control and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have announced that 1.5 million lives which would be lost to cancer, could be saved per year if decisive measures are taken to achieve the World Health Organization’s ‘25 by 25’ target. The target is to reduce premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases by 25% by 2025. Currently, 7.6 million people die from cancer worldwide every year, out of which, 4 million people die prematurely, aged 30 to 69 years. If urgent action is not taken to raise awareness about the disease and to develop practical strategies to address cancer, by 2025, the death by cancer is projected to increase to an alarming 6 million .