The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) urged the region’s health authorities to include cancer services in universal coverage, as World Cancer Day is celebrated on February 4th.
“To save lives and improve health indicators, cancer control programs must be expanded, include cancer services in universal coverage and guarantee access to quality care,” PAHO said in a message on the social network Twitter.
World Cancer Day
World Cancer Day is celebrated on February 4thwith the aim of raising awareness and mobilizing society to advance in the prevention and control of this disease.It is a disease that causes a group of cells in the body to grow abnormally and uncontrollably, giving rise to a lump or mass.This occurs in all cancers except leukemia, which is in the blood.
Framework for the Global Initiative against Breast Cancer
The World Health Organization (WHO) has among its goals to save 2.5 million women from breast cancer by 2040. To that end, it published a new “Framework for the Global Initiative against Breast Cancer,” which recommends that countries focus on early detection programs so that at least 60 percent of cases are diagnosed and treated in the early stages. It indicates that treatment should be started within three months of the first presentation, in addition to ensuring that at least 80 percent of patients complete it.
Unequal
The international organization regretted that survival from breast cancer is very unequal between countries. It pointed out that 80 percent of deaths from this disease and the cervix occur in low- and middle-income nations.
Every year, the WHO commented, there are more than 2.3 million cases of breast cancer, which makes it the most frequent among adults.In 95 percent of countries, breast cancer is the first or second cause of female death due to health problems of this type.
