India Faces Unacknowledged Cancer Crisis

Report Claim Cancer Will Be “World’s Top Killer” By 2010
World Health Organization (WHO) states that cancer will exceed heart disease in number of deaths per year; calls increase the beginning of a “global cancer crisis”

A report released last week by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that cancer will most likely surpass heart disease as the world’s number-one killer by the year 2010. WHO experts say that this is part of an emerging trend that will more than likely double the number of individuals who die from cancer worldwide by 2030.

Representatives from WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, along with the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the National Cancer Institute of Mexico, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, presented the report at a press conference. Chief Executive Officer of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, John Seffrin, told media that the above organizations were brought together to bring greater attention to the “global threat of cancer,” which WHO states is not recognized as a “major, growing health problem” in some developing nations.

One reason for the increase in cancer deaths is the rising number of individuals who use tobacco products in developing nations, say WHO researchers. Nations such as India and China are reporting a rapid increase in overall tobacco use, and WHO data states that approximately 40% of the world’s smokers live in these two countries.

In addition to an increase in the use of cancer-causing products, WHO also claims that advanced techniques in the field of cancer diagnosis also explain the rising number of new cases that are being reported. The decrease in global deaths from other diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria, has also caused a shift in global trends.

Because doctors have new and more accurate methods of diagnosing cancer, the number of individuals who are diagnosed worldwide on a yearly basis continue to rise. In fact, WHO experts estimate that 12 million new cases will be reported this year.

WHO also states that an estimated 7 million people across the globe will lose their battle with some type of cancer this year.

The emerging trend related to cancer deaths will continue, with what WHO expects to be a 1% increase in both number of cases and deaths reported each year. In Russia, India, and China, the increase is expected to be even greater.

By 2030, the number of new cancer cases yearly will be about 27 million, and the number of individuals dying from cancer is expected to be roughly 17 million. An additional factor in the trend moving forward is also an increase in world population.

In India, where there are no regulations that monitor the import and use of asbestos, a naturally occurring toxin deaths caused by mesothelioma cancer are also expected to rise. India receives exported asbestos from mines in Canada, which is one of the largest exporters of asbestos in the world.

WHO has asked the U.S. government to increase funding for cancer research and treatment and to sign a global treaty related to tobacco control.

Mesothelioma.com encourages all individuals to participate in raising awareness of the global cancer crisis. For more information about mesothelioma cancer, which kills thousands of individuals worldwide each year, please visit Mesothelioma.com.

jmiller@mesothelioma.com