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The Big C and the bigger challenges

Every year, millions of initiatives around the world aim at creating awareness on various forms of cancers.

They say cancer may leave the body, but it stays in the mind for a long time. The pain is not only physical, the struggle is as much psychological. In his Pulitzer-winning book, The Emperor of All Maladies, oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee writes: “The story of cancer isn’t the story of doctors who struggle and survive, moving from institution to another. It is the story of patients who struggle and survive, moving from an embankment of illness to another. Resilience, inventiveness and survivorship — qualities often ascribed to great physicians — are reflected qualities, emanating first from those who struggle with illness and only then mirrored by those who treat them. If the history of medicines is told through the stories of doctors, it is because their stories stand in place of the more substantive heroism of their patients.”

Every year, millions of initiatives around the world aim at creating awareness on various forms of cancers. Closer home, initiatives such as Pink Caravan, hair donation campaigns, among others champion the cause. According to the World Health Organisation, cancer is the second leading cause of deaths globally, with as many as 9.6 million people losing their lives owing to the condition. In the European Union alone, that number stands at 1.3 million a year with close to 2.7 million people being diagnosed. Today, Europe has close to 12 million cancer survivors. To address the need to research and treat various forms of cancer, the European Commission recently unveiled a $4.8 billion initiative. The Beating Cancer Plan, launched on the eve of World Cancer Day, is a part of a broader integrated health policy, and aspires to offer citizens of the European Union greater chances of survival. The plan will create awareness on the impact of reducing smoking, alcohol consumption and pollution, and emphasise on promoting a healthy lifestyle, apart from finding newer ways for early diagnosis and suitable treatment that increase chances of survival. It also aims at inoculating 90 per cent of women in EU for human papillomaviruses that lead to cervical cancer.

The numbers tell the story and point to a vital lesson — we can no longer ignore the Big C. Which means it’s only befitting that more resources are pumped in to bolster various research programmes that can offer more advanced cancer treatments. Early detection ought to be an important part of that plan, as it offers a patient a chance at survival. Pink ribbons for October and moustaches for November are great symbols of awareness, but those who suffer from it need something more than hope. They need a chance at life.