February 04, 2021 will not only celebrate World Cancer Day’s 21st birthday but also the final year of its ‘I Am and I Will’ 3-year campaign. Through its recently launched 21 Days to Impact Challenge, the organizers hope to build commitment to improving personal health, supporting a loved one with cancer, educating about cancer, speaking out about the disease, or making history to eliminate cervical cancer.
The Challenge aims to accelerate momentum ahead of the big day on February 04 and enable you, as a WCD supporter, to make an impact through small but meaningful actions. Framed Achieving a healthier, brighter future one day at a time, there are five different ‘I Will’ challenges to choose from; each accompanied by daily goals, prompts and inspirational messages that follow each morning by email once you’ve signed up.
Commenting for VHIO’s Global Communications our Director, Josep Tabernero, said, “More importantly than ever before, particularly considering the current COVID-19 pandemic, we must support World Cancer Day and help spread the word about its 21 Days to Impact Challenge. By getting involved, we can and will collectively seek to reduce the global burden of cancer.”
He continued, “According to the latest statistics issued by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the cancer burden in EU-27 countries alone is estimated to have risen to 2.7 million cases and 1.3 million deaths in 2020. We must continue to tackle key issues including cancer prevention and disease risk reduction, as well as equity in access to cancer services and care – at the national and global levels.”
Concerning the global strategy to stamp out cervical cancer, this year’s WCD also centers on the World Health Organization’s mission of eliminating this disease as a public health problem. In so doing, an estimated 62 million lives will be saved and 72 million cases avoided in countries most affected by cervical cancer over the course of the next century.
Ana Oaknin, Principal Investigator of VHIO’s Gynecological Malignancies Group, observed, “I congratulate this year’s World Cancer Day for its important efforts that shine a glaring light on the necessary national actions to prevent future deaths from this tumor type across the globe.”
She continued, “Nine out of ten deaths from cervical cancer occur in in low- and middle–income countries, where screening programs are largely lacking. Without action, cervical cancer deaths are estimated to rise a further 50% by 2030. All stakeholders in oncology will need to come together to reverse this terrible situation.”
These must-have conversations, along with strengthening public awareness and engagement are of course as relevant to next January’s Cervical Cancer Awareness Month as they are to WCD on February 04.
To discover more about the World Cancer Day 21 Days to Impact Challenge, other actions, and a wide range of materials and resources to help make an impact please visit: https://www.worldcancerday.org/21DayChallenge.
