World Cancer Day is on the 4^th of February. It is a global initiative under which the world comes together to raise awareness of cancer in a positive and inspiring way.  Spearheaded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the day aims to save millions of lives each year by raising awareness and improving education about the disease while calling for action from governments and individuals across the world. The theme for this year’s World Cancer Day 2023 is Close the care gap, aimed at eliminating the inequities in cancer care that exist in many countries. Inequities in the care of cancer patients abound in India. Disparities in social status, income, gender, religion, and age, result in profound differences in the type of care given as well as the control or cure of cancer.  These differences must be reduced or eliminated in order to realize the motto – ‘close the care gap’

The Government of India scheme Ayushman Bharat and the AP State’s Arogyasree scheme are believed to be the best way to provide cancer care for all those below the poverty line. Raising awareness about the lack of equity in cancer care and prompting action at every level to break down the barriers that exist for many people in accessing services and receiving the care they need. 

The call for Governments around the world is to pass adequate and stringent legislation to prevent millions of cancer-related deaths due to tobacco use and the consumption of alcohol and ultra-processed foods through increased taxation, restricted advertising, improved labeling, and public education. Sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods are known drivers of obesity, defined as a BMI above 30 and, like tobacco and alcohol, are potentially addictive. These products are marketed by companies whose corporate interests often outweigh concerns for global health.

Greater emphasis must be laid on promoting the prevention of cancer through appropriate lifestyle modification – tobacco and alcohol-free, a plant-based diet, adequate exercise, and avoidance of obesity. The WHO’s call to eliminate cervical cancer through the vaccination of young girls against the Human Papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer, promoting universal screening for HPV-related pre-invasive cervical cancer and effective treatment of diagnosed cancer can easily be realized in India with the GoI rolling out the universal vaccination of young girls with the indigenously launched HPV vaccination.

The Person In the Image and Author of the Article is
Dr. Ragunatha Rao, MD DM FAPAS FRCP FACP, Founder Director of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre & Chief Consultant Medical Oncologist, KIMS Icon Hospital