CANCER is taking lives of millions of people every year and scientists are working relentlessly to combat its spread and make it curable by developing effective treatment about it. Research on the killer disease is now focused on ‘Target 5’ under the tagline “debunk the myths” to make it communicable in the first place to start treatment before too late. The myths about cancer includes four specific factors such as ‘We don’t need to talk about cancer, Cancer…. there are no signs or symptoms, There is nothing I can do about cancer, I don’t have the right to cancer care.’ However, experts said, cancer is linked to a patient’s food habit, lifestyle and environmental factors and tobacco consumption habit, and thus it is preventable. According to a report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialised WHO agency, cancer deaths will likely rise from 8.2 million to 13 million per year as the world’s population grows and ages and more people adopt risky lifestyle habits. The UN on Monday said, new cases of cancer can reach 21.6 million per year, rising by half by 2030. That is the most serious concern for us as the WHO Director General Margaret Chan said, the overall impact from cancer would “unquestionably” hit developing countries the hardest. It is very unfortunate that Bangladesh doesn’t maintain any central database of cancer, which is an essential part of any cancer control programme, reported a local English daily on Tuesday. Moreover, cancer perhaps is the major cause of deaths here. According to the global database on cancer maintained by the IARC, an estimated 122,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed and over 91,000 patients die every year in Bangladesh. The number of people suffering from cancer in Bangladesh could be 12-13 lakh, the organisation said. World Cancer Report by IARC found a slight gender bias: 53 percent of cancer cases and 57 percent of deaths were among men. In men, cancer most often attacked the lungs (16.7 percent) followed by the prostate (15 percent), colorectum (10 percent), stomach (8.5 percent), and liver (7.5 percent). For women, cancer was most common in the breast (25.2 percent), colorectum (9.2 percent), lung (8.7 percent), cervix (7.9 percent) and stomach (4.8 percent). At least three types of common cancer – breast, cervical and oral – can easily be mitigated through preventive measures and awareness. In Bangladesh, where there is little knowledge of cancer, people delay going to the doctor even though they exhibit some of the symptoms. Cancer is typically diagnosed at a more advanced stage in Bangladesh and scanning of the cancer disease and its treatment are less readily available here. And if it happens, the treatment (whatever is available) is not commonly affordable. On top of it all, the country has an acute shortage of trained oncologists – only 125 for 13 lakh patients working in both public and private clinical outlets. Poor clinical facilities at the grassroot level also exacerbates the situation. Lack of coordination among the government, local government and non-government organisations hinders the anti-cancer motivation programme to raise awareness at the mass level. To debunk the myths about cancer, lifestyle change motivation campaigns should be launched immediately with an intensive effort by all.
