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World Cancer Day, annual observance held on February 4, is intended to increase global awareness of cancer. World Cancer Day originated in 2000 at the first World Summit Against Cancer, which was held in Paris. At this meeting, leaders of government agencies and cancer organizations from around the world signed the Charter of Paris Against Cancer, a document containing 10 articles that outlined a cooperative global commitment to improving the quality of life of cancer patients and to the continued investment in and advancement of cancer research, prevention, and treatment. Article X of the charter formally declared February 4 as World Cancer Day “so that each year, the Charter of Paris will be in the hearts and minds of people around the world.”

Cancer awareness has become exceedingly important in the 21st century. While there have been numerous advancements in the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer—factors that should contribute to the decline of the disease—the number of new cancer cases diagnosed each year has globally continued to increase. There were 8.1 million new cases diagnosed in 1990, 10 million in 2000, and some 12.4 million in 2008. The number of annual deaths worldwide from cancer has also increased—from 5.2 million people in 1990 to 7.6 million people in 2008. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the incidence of cancer continues to grow at the reported rate, the number of deaths worldwide from cancer will increase to more than 13.1 million by 2030. However, also according to WHO, as many as 40 percent of deaths from cancer are preventable. As a result, raising awareness of cancer prevention has become a prominent goal of many cancer and health organizations around the world, and World Cancer Day has come to represent an annual reaffirmation of the importance of this goal.

The International Union Against Cancer (UICC), an organization dedicated to increasing global cancer awareness, coordinates World Cancer Day and is supported in this effort by WHO and other international organizations. World Cancer Day serves as a formal launching point for the declaration of new themes and the release of new publications for the UICC’s World Cancer Campaign, which functions throughout the year and strives to raise cancer awareness by forming partnerships with health and cancer institutions and by proposing educational activities and creating public service announcements.

Because more than 70 percent of deaths from cancer occur in economically less-developed countries, World Cancer Day and the World Cancer Campaign have become important mechanisms for drawing attention to cancer prevention and treatment in these countries.