Islamabad - Pakistan is the 7th populous country with estimated cancer incidence of 1,48,041 new cases, while one third of cancer incidents could be prevented by quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy life style, health experts said on Saturday.

About 1,48,041 Pakistanis are diagnosed with cancer annually. Over 1,00,000 cancer-related deaths and a prevalence of 3,50,000 living cancer patients have been reported during the past 5 years, they revealed.

The age standardised ratio is more in females (128 women and 96 men per 100,000 populations, respectively), said Dr Farrukh, consultant radiation oncologist at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad.

He was addressing the participants of an awareness seminar against cancer at Shifa International Hospital on Saturday. Every year, on February 4, World Cancer Day is marked to highlight the health risks associated with cancer and advocating for effective policies to fight the disease. Discounted coupons for mammography were also offered to the female participants.

Director General Health Services, CDA Dr Hasan Orooj was chief guest on the occasion. Dr Hasan said that being a cancer patient was the worst scenario anyone could imagine. Besides the role of the government, healthcare bodies and other stakeholders, we as people and society can also play an important role for prevention of the disease, he said. He advised the audience to live a simple life, consuming simple and healthy food and doing regular exercise to prevent cancer. Prevention and awareness can decrease overall healthcare cost of the country, he said.

Dr Farrukh said that cancer was the 2nd major cause of human deaths (12.6%) after cardiovascular diseases (15.1%) followed by road traffic accidents (9.7%) and respiratory ailments (7.1%). Cancers occurring early in life are usually hereditary, passed to the next generations through defective genes (genetic mutations), including breast cancer, thyroid cancer in youth and eye cancer in the children (retinoblastoma), he said.

He informed the audience that tobacco was well known for causing cancers of the lung, oral cavity and others like breast and urinary bladder. Timely screening, active and healthy lifestyle and avoiding the avoidable risk factors can protect people from all types of cancer, he stated. 

Dr Ayaz Mir, Consultant Oncologist SIH said that there were more than a hundred types of blood cancer. Three major categories are leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Fatigue, weight loss, night sweats, loss of appetite, bleeding, bone pains, enlarged glands and recurrent infections are main signs and symptoms of blood cancer, he said.

Consultant Medical Oncologist and Breast Cancer Expert at SIH Dr Uzma Qasim said that breast cancer was diagnosed in more than one million women worldwide every year. Pakistan has the highest incidence of breast cancer in entire Asia. She shared the risk factors for breast cancer that could not be changed, and the risk factors that could be modified, including obesity, exercise, breast feeding, alcohol, birth control pills and not having children.

Separately, Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI), under aegis of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), organised an awareness seminar for general public in connection with the World Cancer Day being observed all over the world.

Earlier, Dr Humera, Head of Oncology and Radiology, SIH, said that kids should not grow on hospital beds, adding that this year; they have dedicated the World Cancer Day to paediatric cancer patients.

She updated on cancer patient support group launched in 2017 and how that group had helped the patients in reducing their stress and anxiety.

Cancer survivors and parents of young and brave cancer warriors shared their experiences for awareness and inspiration that cancer was not the end road.

In the end, the guests participated in an awareness walk against cancer.