Australian to Lead the World in Cancer Fight

MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor David Hill,
Director of The Cancer Council Victoria, will commence in his role as
President of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) on 27 August 2008
at the World Cancer Congress in Geneva.
The UICC is a powerful advocacy group with more than 300 member agencies
including Cancer Research United Kingdom and the American Cancer Society.
Under Professor Hill's leadership the UICC will drive the worldwide agenda
improving cancer prevention and survival through its membership base.
Professor Hill said Governments around the world that focus on cancer
prevention campaigns today will potentially save the lives of millions of
people.
"This will have a substantial impact on the healthcare system, decreasing
the pressure as more cancers are prevented," he said. "We have the knowledge
today to reduce the cancer burden worldwide. In Australia, cancer survival has
increased significantly over the past two decades with 58 per cent of men and
64 per cent of females surviving beyond 5 years of their cancer diagnoses,"
Professor Hill said.
"If we compare this to the period from 1982-1986, only 41 per cent of men
and 53 per cent of women were surviving five years after their cancer
diagnoses." Professor Hill highlights that with more than 7 million people
worldwide dying from cancer and close to 11 million new cases diagnosed every
year, the road to fighting cancer is a long one.
However, Professor Hill said that there is a great opportunity to
implement what we already know about cancer and improve the worldwide cancer
survival. "Seventy per cent of worldwide cancer deaths have occurred in low
and middle-income countries, which belies the assumption often made that
cancer is not a significant problem beyond affluent nations.
"One's decision to avoid smoking, be SunSmart, reduce alcohol intake, eat
a nutritionally balanced diet, exercise regularly and participate in
vaccination programs can significantly impact the cancer burden."
Professor Hill said the trick to making inroads in cancer is to share the
responsibility we all carry to change our cancer-related behaviours of those
whose lifestyle habits we have some influence on.
Media contact: Belinda Goldfinch
m - +61 419 552 179
Belinda.Goldfinch@cancervic.org.au

SOURCE The Cancer Council, Victoria, Australia

Belinda Goldfinch, +61 419 552 179, Belinda.Goldfinch@cancervic.org.au, for
The Cancer Council, Victoria, Australia