June 5, 2003 – Immediate concerted action in the fight against cancer will save two million lives by 2020 and more than six million by 2040, estimate the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Union International Cancer Society (UICC).
Following a meeting in Chicago, WHO and UICC urged international organizations, governments, institutions and individuals to work together to tackle common risk factors. They also ask them to make their national and local planning more effective and to do more to improve the quality of life of cancer patients and their families.
WHO Director-General Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland believes that a third of the 10 million cancer cases reported annually around the world could be prevented. It would also be possible to detect another third of these cases early enough to improve the effectiveness of treatment.
At the beginning of April, the WHO warned that 15 million new cases could be diagnosed in 2020, an increase of 50% compared to the 10 million cases diagnosed in 2000. For its part, the Canadian Cancer Society anticipates a 70% increase in new cancer cases in the country by 2015 (see the PasseportSanté.net article on this subject, dated April 4, 2003).
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to WHO; June 3, 2003.
