World Cancer Day 2011

Today (Feb. 4) is World Cancer Day.  Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world and its incidence continues to rise.  The World Health Organization estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention.

Evidence shows that 30-40% all cancers deaths can be prevented, and one-third can be cured through early diagnosis and treatment.

In May 2010, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), calling for a UN Summit on NCDs to be held on the 19-20 September 2011 in New York.  The Summit will address the prevention and control of cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes, which together account for 60% (35 million) of global deaths. The largest burden – 80% (28 million) – occurs in low- and middle- income countries, making NCDs a major risk to global development and economic growth.

World Cancer Day resources:

• World Health Organization
• World Cancer Day site

 

UN report: high cholesterol no longer an affliction of developed countries

No longer a “rich-country” affliction, high cholesterol is now hitting people in middle-income countries in big numbers — but a majority worldwide remains untreated, according to the largest study of the issue ever conducted.  (source: Vancouver Sun)

This study, published in the Bulletin – the international public health journal of the World Health Organization – is the first to show the extent of the treatment gap for high cholesterol – a common risk factor for early cardiovascular deaths. In Thailand, for example, 78% of adults surveyed had not been diagnosed, while in Japan, 53% of adults were diagnosed but remained untreated.

Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s biggest killers, claiming more than 17 million lives each year worldwide.

“Cholesterol-lowering medication is widely available, highly effective and can play an essential role in reducing cardiovascular disease around the world,” said study co-author, Dr Gregory A Roth, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in the United States of America. “Despite these facts, effective medication coverage for control of high cholesterol remains disappointingly low.”