World Cancer Day 2021 Marked Amid Covid Pandemic
Today, people across the globe will observe World Cancer Day 2021, an annual day of awareness that people have been taking part in since 2000.
But, as with so many other things in the past year, marking this year’s World Cancer Day will be different to any others that have gone before.
As the UK – and much of the world – is still under significant lockdown measures, face-to-face events won’t be going ahead. But that doesn’t mean the day can’t be observed.
There are plenty of virtual events scheduled, including streamed panel discussions, online yoga classes and virtual quizzes.
Actions matter
World Cancer Day is a campaign designed to raise awareness and encourage the prevention, detection and treatment of the disease that affects so many of us. This year’s focus is ‘Together, all our actions matter’.
The intention is to show that “our actions have an impact on everyone around us, within our neighbourhoods, communities and cities,” as well as “across borders and oceans”.
Campaign organisers, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), said: “When we choose to come together, we can achieve what we all wish for: a healthier, brighter world without cancer. Together, all of our actions matter.”
Cancer in the age of Covid-19
With the life-threatening seriousness of many cancer patients’ conditions, it is a hugely challenging time to be fighting the disease.
Because of the pandemic, UK cancer patients are finding it difficult to access the treatment they need. Operations have been cancelled or postponed as hospital trusts try to avoid being overwhelmed by the number of Covid cases they’re dealing with.
Although trusts have been told to give urgent cancer surgery the same priority as Covid patients, they will have backlogs of patients to treat. This could see some people with cancer left waiting for their procedures.
Last summer, more than 2 million people were waiting for cancer screening, tests and treatment. This has improved, but people are still waiting. The British Medical Association has found that the overall number of cancer treatments and appointments is lower than before the pandemic struck, while the latest wave of Covid-19 combined with winter pressures “is likely to have disrupted cancer care further”.
The resulting impact
In the UK, there are more than 367,000 new cases of cancer recorded annually, according to Cancer Research UK (CRUK). The organisation also reports that more than 166,500 people die from cancer every year.
Whether the pandemic will have an impact on survival rates remains to be seen. CRUK advises people who think they may have cancer during the pandemic to still contact their doctor, pointing out that the sooner cancer is detected, the higher the chance of successful treatment.
But it’s not that simple for everyone. If you’ve suffered from a cancer misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis or had your disease missed altogether, you could be able to claim medical negligence compensation.
To find out how our compassionate and understanding team could help you, just give us a call or start your claim online and we’ll take it from there.
