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Spotlight: NCDs — Cancer

BY ANN MANGOLD; EDITED BY BERNICE BORN

During the coming months WiRED International will spotlight noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which are the primary health threat in the world today. According to the World Health Organization, NCDs claim 16 million lives a year globally.

 

More than 75% of deaths worldwide are due to NCDs. Their number exceeds that of all deaths from communicable diseases, plus deaths related to maternal and perinatal malnutrition. Our community health education website offers an e-library of more than 350 medical and health information modules, many of which feature NCDs. WiRED International believes that individuals and communities that understand the basics of NCDs can make vast improvements in their health outcomes.

ancer is frightening. Almost everyone has been touched by it in some way, and the number of new cases is expected to rise by 70% in the next 20 years. In fact, cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. Annually, lung, liver, stomach, colorectal, breast and esophageal cancers kill more than eight million people globally.

Cancer is not just a single illness, but a group of related illnesses that occur when cells grow and spread abnormally. These cells often clump together to form tumors that may destroy normal cells and healthy tissue. Sometimes cancer cells break away from an original tumor and travel to other areas of the body in a process called metastasis, which is a major cause of death from cancer. Doctors don’t know why some people get cancer and others don’t, but they do know cancer isn’t contagious.

More than 60% of the world’s total of new cases of cancer occur annually in underserved countries in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Progress there has been made against communicable diseases, but non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer are on the rise.

Still, there is encouraging news. Two out of three people diagnosed today with cancer will survive at least five years, since better screening has led to success in diagnosing and treating cancers earlier and more accurately.

However, there is more work to do. More than four in ten cancers could be prevented if people made healthier lifestyle choices such as avoiding tobacco, limiting alcohol use, reducing sun exposure, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, keeping a healthy weight and being physically active.

WiRED offers extensive modules on cancer both for grassroots audiences and for health care professionals. WiRED also presents information on cancer in our Express series. Check out our modules on cancer and tackle this disease with facts.

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