WHO World Cancer Day Focuses on Prevention Print
Program News
Written by Press Release   
Monday, 06 November 2006 00:00
Cancer is a leading cause of death globally: an estimated 7.6 million people died of cancer in 2005 and 84 million people will die in the next 10 years if action is not taken. The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a global goal of reducing chronic disease death rates by 2% per annum from 2006 to 2015. Achievement of this goal would avert over 8 million of the projected 84 million deaths due to cancer in the next decade. WHO is stepping up its response to meet this target.

More than 70% of all cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where resources available for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer are limited or nonexistent. Tobacco use alone accounts for some 1.5 million cancer deaths per year.
WHO is actively responding to these rising levels of cancer. A World Health Assembly resolution adopted in May 2005 called on WHO and its Member States to take urgent action to prevent and control cancer.
WHO Press Release: World Cancer Day: Global action to avert 8 million cancer-related deaths by 2015. February 3, 2006

This year the World Health Organization’s annual World Cancer Day events focused on the importance of prevention. The WHO announced its main concern in the above press release February 3. Among the WHO’s top priorities is the reduction of obesity and smoking, both of which are major cancer risk factors and also priority areas for Road of Life’s cancer prevention programs.

The full press release is available on WHO’s website www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr06/en/index.html