New figures from WHO indicate that each year, 8.8 million people die from cancer, mostly in low- and middle-income countries and in the WHO South-East Asia Region it kills around 1.3 million people every year. In Bangladesh, 10% of all deaths are due to cancers.
Estimates from 2012 indicate that the most common occurring cancers in men are cancer of the lung and cancer of the oesophagus in Bangladesh. In women, the most common occurring cancers are cancer of the breast and cancer of the cervix (http://globocan.iarc.fr/Pages/fact_sheets_population.aspx). Significant progress in early cancer diagnosis has been made in Bangladesh. For example, the Health Bulletin 2016 of the Directorate General of Health Services reports that the government has established a total of 373 centers throughout the country and trained 1500 service providers from public hospitals on the screening of cervical and breast cancer.
Cancers, along with diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic lung diseases, are also known as noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs were responsible for 40 million (70%) of the world’s 56 million deaths in 2015. More than 40% of the people who died from an NCD were under 70 years of age.
Under Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals, countries have committed to reduce these premature deaths from cancers and other NCDs by one third by 2030.
One challenge is that often cancer is diagnosed too late. Many cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when they are harder to treat successfully. Early diagnosis can save lives. It can enable more effective, less complex and less expensive treatment.
According to a new guide published by WHO, three key steps to early diagnosis are:
- Improve public awareness of different cancer symptoms and encourage people to seek care when these arise.
- Invest in strengthening and equipping health services and training health workers so they can conduct accurate and timely diagnostics.
- Ensure people living with cancer can access safe and effective treatment, including pain relief, without incurring prohibitive personal or financial hardship.