ISLAMABAD: The World Cancer Day was observed across the world including Pakistan on Saturday to raise awareness about the disease and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. According to estimate, some 10 thousand people die annually in Pakistan due to cancer.
World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written in 2008.
The primary goal of the World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer by 2020. Like other parts of the world, the day is also observed in Pakistan with a renewed pledge to purge society of this menace.
The disease, which manifests in different forms, remains one of the leading causes of death in the country. According to Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), 8.2 million people die per year are due to cancer worldwide, while 14 million new cancer cases are registered per year. Breast cancer is the top malignancy in Pakistan.