RIYADH: The Kingdom will join the other member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) to observe World Cancer Day on Thursday.
“‘Cancer can be prevented too,’ is the theme of this year’s program,” Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mirghalani told Arab News Wednesday.
He pointed out that 40 percent of cases of cancer could be cured provided they are detected and treated early.
Quoting WHO reports, Mirghalani said the absence of timely intervention, is expected to lead to 84 million cancer-related deaths worldwide between 2005 and 2015.
“It is possible to reduce the risks of cancer and move closer to prevention of the disease,” he said.
In the Kingdom, the Health Ministry is conducting an integrated program to fight cancer, Mirghalani said.
The national registry of tumors in 2005 recorded 10,513 cases of cancer in Saudi Arabia, including 5,308 men and 5,205 women. The number of Saudis among them were 7,761.
Cancer accounted for nearly 13 percent (7.9 million) of global deaths in 2007. More than 70 percent of deaths due to cancer are found in developing countries where there is scarcity of resources to effectively treat cancer.
“Want of balanced diet and physical inactivity are behaviors which are learned early in life. Both these behaviors are important risk factors for cancer,” he said.
Effective cancer prevention planning would require assessment of cancer risk factors at a country level and promote preventive measures based on the priority of risk factors.
