Winifred Bosa

Each year, 8.8 million people die from cancer, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, according to World Health Organization  WHO figures and by  2030, more than two-thirds of all cancer-related deaths will be in developing countries.

Against this , the new guidance from the  WHO released to mark World Cancer Day is informing the public about the different symptoms of cancer so that they can get early care and  provide safe and effective treatment.

“Diagnosing cancer in late stages, and the inability to provide treatment, condemns many people to unnecessary suffering and early death,” said Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department for the Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention.

“By taking the steps to implement WHO’s new guidance, healthcare planners can improve early diagnosis of cancer and ensure prompt treatment, especially for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers,” he stressed.

According to WHO, studies in high-income countries have shown that All countries can take steps to improve early diagnosis of cancer, according to WHO’s new Guide to cancer early diagnosis.

The three steps to early diagnosis are:

Improve public awareness of different cancer symptoms and encourage people to seek care when these arise. Invest in strengthening and equipping health services and training health workers so they can conduct accurate and timely diagnostics. Ensure people living with cancer can access safe and effective treatment, including pain relief, without incurring prohibitive personal or financial hardship. Challenges are clearly greater in low- and middle-income countries, which have lower abilities to provide access to effective diagnostic services, including imaging, laboratory tests, and pathology –all key to helping detect cancers and plan treatment. Countries also currently have different capacities to refer cancer patients to the appropriate level of care. treatment for cancer patients who have been diagnosed early are two to four times less expensive compared to treating people diagnosed with cancer at more advanced stages.

The third step to WHO’s early diagnosis is strengthening and equipping health services and training workers, according to the guidance released

Among African countries, for example, 80 per cent of the estimated population of one billion is without access to radiotherapy and related cancer services.