Cancer control initiative announced

A new scheme to tackle cancer in the developing world has been announced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Joint Programme of Cancer Control intends to improve and increase efforts to reduce the number of deaths caused by cancer in developing countries.

Dr Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, commented that poor people are the main group affected by cancer in low and middle-income nations.

"This has huge implications for human suffering, health systems, health budgets and the drive to reduce poverty," she said.

IAEA director-general Dr Mohamed El Baradei added: "The joint programme with WHO underlines our conviction that only through combined effort and collaboration can we bring hope and relief to those whose lives are threatened by cancer."

Albania, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Viet Nam and Yemen will be the countries focused upon to begin with.

Around 13 per cent of all deaths around the world are caused by cancer.

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