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Cancer
World Cancer Day 2009
WHO joins with the sponsoring International Union Against Cancer to promote ways to ease the global burden of cancer. Preventing cancer and raising quality of life for cancer patients are recurring themes.
A healthy active childhood is the theme of this year's World Cancer Day with a particular emphasis on the long-term risks of overweight and obesity and physical inactivity.
Read more about this year's theme
Podcast: prevent cancer through healthy, active childhood
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"Unbalanced diet and physical inactivity are behaviours which are learnt early in life. Both these behaviours are important risk factors for cancer. By targeting children with positive health messages and providing the appropriate environments to facilitate behaviour change, we can substantially contribute to cancer prevention." - Dr Ala Alwan Assistant Director-General, Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, WHO
“Overweight and obesity are now recognized as one of the areas of lifestyle where risk factors are common between cardiovascular disease and cancer. Prevention strategies therefore should be common for global health, and so promotion of a healthy diet and physical activity early in life should be part of an integrated approach.” - Dr Christopher Wild, Director, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
QUICK CANCER FACTS
- Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide: it accounted for 7.9 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2007.
- Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year.
- The most frequent types of cancer differ between men and women.
- About 30% of cancer deaths can be prevented.
- Tobacco use is the single most important risk factor for cancer.
- Cancer arises from a change in one single cell. The change may be started by external agents and inherited genetic factors.
- About 72% of all cancer deaths in 2007 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
- Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue rising, with an estimated 12 million deaths in 2030.
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Learn more about cancer
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What is the impact of cancer in your country? (mortality and burden)
THE FACES OF CANCER
Are the number of cancer cases increasing or decreasing in the world?
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