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- All words: Returns only documents that match all words.
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  1. Cancer

Cancer

An image of a child without any hair sitting on a hospital bed with the mother looking onIn 2008, 7.6 million cancer deaths occurred worldwide. About 60% of cancer deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries and this number is likely to increase in the future. It is estimated that cancer kills more than a quarter of a million people each year in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region alone.

The largest increase in cancer incidence in the next 15 years is also likely to be in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, taking into account the trends for all related risk factors. The most frequent cancers in the Region are breast cancer in females, and lung and bladder cancers in males.

The projected increase in cancer can be attributed to population ageing, better detection and registration, and most importantly, to increased exposure to risk factors. The most important of these factors is tobacco consumption. Other risk factors include unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, other behavioural and lifestyle changes, pollution and increased exposure to industrial and agricultural carcinogens.

The WHO Regional Office is working closely with Member States to overcome these challenges and achieve the objectives of the regional strategy for cancer prevention and control, including palliative care.

National databases on cancer are either lacking or are not up to date in many countries of the Region. WHO is working with Member States to establish national cancer registries, in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Information resources

Publications

Guidelines for management of breast cancer [pdf 810 kb]

Guidelines for the early detection and screening of breast cancer [pdf 472.90kb]

Plan of action for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean Region [pdf 449.92kb]

Strategy for cancer prevention and control in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2009–2013 [pdf 1.44Mb]

Policy documents

A prioritized research agenda for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases

Package of essential noncommunicable (PEN) disease interventions for primary health care in low-resource settings

Prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases: report of the Secretary-General [pdf 134.10kb]

Links

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

World Cancer Day, 4 February

Related topics

Tobacco

Physical activity

Obesity

Health promotion

Genetics

Related programmes

Tobacco Free Initiative

Mental health and substance abuse

Nutrition

Collaborating centres

Digestive Diseases Research Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran/WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on Gastrointestinal Cancers

King Hussein Cancer Center, Amman, Jordan/WHO Collaborating Center for Cancer Education, Training and Research

WHO collaborating centres

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