‘Cancer Affects 12 Million Yearly’

An estimated 12 million people globally are diagnosed with cancer every year.

Consultant Pathologist, Dr Dorothy Okoh made this disclosure in a paper titled, “Healthy Life Style Options, to mark the end of this year’s Pink Month October, a period designated for cancer awareness, organised by Preventive Health Initiative (PHI) in collaboration with National Association of  Women Journalists (NAWOJ).

Dr Okoh said of this number, 7.6 million die of cancer, which she said is 30-40 per cent preventable and accounts for more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined globally.

Dr  Okoh, who is also the Director of PHI, described cancer as a disease caused by uncontrollable  growth and spread of abnormal cells, which she says can occur in any organ of the body, noting that breast and cervical cancers are common in women and prostate in men.

She categorised  the risk factors as, uncontrollable and controllable or avoidable, and warned that if noting is done urgently, 26 million people worldwide would be diagnosed with cancer within the next 10 years.

She explained that the uncontrollable risk factors are inherited genetic factors while the controllable or avoidable risk factors include, tobacco and alcohol use, unhealthy diet, environmental pollutants, sun exposure and chronic infections, which she said was responsible for 22 per cent of cancer deaths in developing world and six per cent in industrialised world. She advised alcohol and tobacco abstinence, healthy diet, protection from the sun and radiations and vaccination to reduce incidences of cancer.

In his remarks, chairman of Nigeria union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Opaka Dokubo, applauded the organisers and NAWOJ for the decision to involve the youth in the campaign against cancers.

He said information was the key to cancer prevention, saying that when the right kind of information is provided, cancer can be prevented.

Also speaking, the chairman of NAWOJ, Miss Enale Kodu, said this year’s programme was geared towards getting the youths to initiate behaviour change and improve the lifestyles that could adversely affect their health.

Tonye Nria-Dappa