Every month 600,000 people die from the disease and it is believed that such high figures could be avoided with increased government support and funding for prevention and treatment programmes.

According to Professor Andreas Ullrich, Medical Officer Cancer Control Department at the World Health Organisation, “World Cancer Day is a reminder to us all to take action against the increasing burden of cancer as cancer cases are projected to almost double by 2030”.

This year’s theme revolves around unity, as the scale of the cancer epidemic requires a global response. It is a disease that knows no boundaries and has, or will affect us all directly or indirectly during our lifetime.

It is therefore of great importance to create awareness in order to decrease the burden of cancer. It is only by every person, organisation, and government individually doing their part that this can be achieved on a global scale.

Join the action and spread the word. Visit www.worldcancerday.org and download the toolkit