This year’s theme on World Cancer Day is “children and second-hand smoke exposure”. Around 700 million children – almost half of the world’s children – breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke, particularly at home.
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world. WHO estimates that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention. Each year on 4 February, WHO joins with the sponsoring International Union Against Cancer to promote ways to ease the global burden of cancer.
Preventing cancer and raising quality of life for cancer patients are recurring themes.
In 2008, World Cancer Day aims to send a simple message to parents: “Second-hand smoke is a health hazard for you and your family. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Give your child a smoke-free childhood.”
Source: World Health Organization, Switzerland