Almost everyone will be touched by cancer at some stage in life. World Cancer Day on 4th February is an opportunity to focus on the crucial fact that early detection and diagnosis of cancer can save millions of lives.
The first World Cancer Day is a global initiative organised by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). The event has been raising awareness about the importance of early detection and to prompt fundraising for more cancer research since 2000. In recent years, investment from such fundraising has led to important breakthroughs and great progress in knowledge and diagnostics, in both the UK and the world over.
The Importance of Detecting and Diagnosing Cancer Early
Each World Cancer Day has an individual theme, and this year the tagline is ‘Close the care gap’. This campaign highlights the inequality in basic care and the barriers some face in gaining access to cancer treatment due to income, education, location or through discrimination. This effects thousands of people in the UK right now.
The campaign aims to achieve health equality, to enable every person the opportunity to reach their full health potential without barriers or limitations, by educating the public and health professionals, strengthening primary health care, addressing policies and protocols and increasing resources.
By providing equitable access to cancer prevention, millions of lives can be saved each year, and World Cancer Day 2022 aims to spread that message.
Ison Harrison has represented many patients and their families, where delays in diagnosing cancer have resulted in poorer outcomes, and in some cases avoidable deaths. We recognise how important the early detection and diagnosis of cancer can be. This is why Ison Harrison will be taking part in World Cancer Day on 4th February, by promoting the importance of early detection, in the hope of closing the care gap.
How You Can Share the Message on World Cancer Day
UICC are urging people to raise awareness in several different ways on World Cancer Day:
- Social media – sharing your individual message and commitment with the world
- Spreading the word – writing a blog or web article or creating a video message
- Lighting up the world – using the orange and blue colours of World Cancer Day to light up important landmarks, buildings and monuments in your town or city
- Creating events – organising public events to catch attention, use your voice and inform others
- Donate – contribute to important fundraising to assist cancer research
You can also take part in the 21-day challenge, to receive daily emails with inspiration to create good habits that will make a meaningful impact on your own health.
For us, World Cancer Day highlights that inequality in health care still exists in the UK which has a significant impact on people’s lives. If you have any concerns about early-stage detection of cancer, delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, call us on 0113 284 5000 for a confidential chat or email clinneg@isonharrison.co.uk.
