World Cancer Day marked on February 4 to raise international awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. UNESCO has announced ‘I Am and I Will’, as the theme and campaign for this year. It is an empowering call-to-action, representing the action taken on a personal level to eradicate the disease globally. The theme seeks to counter the negative attitude and fatalistic belief that nothing can be done about cancer, and instead promotes how our personal actions can be powerful and impactful. According to reports, an estimated 9.5 million people worldwide were expected to die from cancer in 2018 – about 26,000 cancer deaths a day – and that number is predicted to grow. It should be taken as a high alert and the government should prioritize this in their health and development agenda.

As an institution we urge our students and all individuals to come forward to discuss the causes and prevention of the disease and help people to adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle. The growing impact of urbanization and unhealthy lifestyle is inviting chronic diseases, which needs to be checked at an early stage by following regular check-ups This World Cancer Day, I urge every individual to join the fight against cancer and stand against the misconceptions that cancer is not synonymous with ‘death’. It can be cured and treated.