Late diagnosis and treatment of cancer result in 1.3 million deaths in South East Asian Region, including India, annually, WHO today said as it asked the countries to enhance awareness and curtail tobacco and alcohol use for effective treatment.
On the eve of World Cancer Day, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Poonam Khetrapal Singh today said 67 per cent of cancer patients die before they are 70.
Singh said Cancer is diagnosed in more than 14 million people worldwide each year, of whom nearly 8.8 million die.
Around two-thirds of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries, where cancer detection is often inadequate and diagnosis and treatment late, she said.
"This is especially so in the WHO South-East Asia Region, where cancer kills around 1.3 million people every year," she said.
"Across the region, late diagnosis and treatment is resulting in 67% of cancer patients dying before they are 70, equating to just under 900 000 premature deaths annually," she said.
She said late diagnosis and treatment is also inflating associated costs and impacting workforce productivity and with cancer rates expected to rise in coming years, the need to take action is clear.
She said the Region's member countries can make few key interventions that will help in early diagnosis and efficient treatment.
"First, health authorities can enhance public awareness of different cancer symptoms and encourage people to seek care if symptoms arise.
"An emphasis on curtailing tobacco and alcohol use, exercising regularly and consuming a healthy diet should feature heavily. Second, health services - especially at the primary level - should be strengthened and equipped to diagnose cancer in an accurate and timely manner," she said.
She maintained that health care workers should be trained to detect cancer's key signs and symptoms, especially for oral and breast cancer, which are particularly burdensome in the region.
These interventions will also help realise Sustainable
Development Goal of reducing premature deaths from cancers and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030, she said.
She said persons living with cancer should be guaranteed safe and effective treatment without incurring prohibitive personal or financial hardship.
Achieving universal health coverage is vital to decreasing cancer-related premature mortality, alongside that of other NCDs, she said.
She said important steps towards better cancer detection have already been taken.
Member countries in the Region reiterated the commitment for 'Cancer Prevention and Control' through a resolution adopted in September 2015.
Since then, they have stepped up efforts for early detection of cancer by implementing a range of primary level interventions.
"On World Cancer Day, we must focus on reducing cancer's impact, both in terms of mortality and cost. We must focus on making early diagnosis a reality," she said.
WHO's South-East Asia Region comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.
