Cancer Myths Busted for World Cancer Day

The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has declared February 4th as World Cancer Day!   They declared that the primary goal of World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce death and illness caused by cancer by the year 2020.

This year UICC focused on dispelling damaging myths and misconceptions about cancer, under the tag line “Cancer – Did you know?”  The organisation will use World Cancer Day to improve knowledge about cancer and dismiss these 4 myths:

• Myth 1:Cancer is just a health issue.
  • Truth: Cancer is not just a health issue.  It has wide-reaching social, economic, development, and human rights implications.
• Myth 2:Cancer is a disease of the wealthy, elderly and developed countries.
  • Truth: Cancer is a global epidemic.  It affects all ages and socio-economic groups, with developing countries bearing a disproportionately large portion of the burden.
• Myth 3:Cancer is a death sentence.
  • Truth: Many cancers that were once considered a death sentence can now be cured and for many more people, their cancer can be treated effectively.
• Myth 4: Cancer is my fate.
  • Truth: With the right strategies, a third of the most common cancers can be prevented.

If you have any ideas of how your organisation, school or friends/family can fund raise for the Cancer Society in honour of World Cancer Day 2014, we welcome your ideas – just contact us!