World Cancer Day takes place on the 4th of February every year and aims to unite the world’s fight against cancer.
Currently, 8.8 million people die from cancer worldwide every year and today is the day we need to reflect on how, as physiotherapists, we can help the people affected by cancer.
As physiotherapists we can play pivotal roles within a persons journey through cancer. Managing fatigue, combating deconditioning, managing lymphedema and treating musculoskeletal impairments, these are just a few examples of the pivotal roles we play.
Origins of World Cancer Day
World Cancer Day was established by the Paris Charter adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millenium in Paris on 4 February 2000. This Charter aimed to promote and further the research into curing and preventing cancer, at improving the services available to patients as well as mobilizing a global movement against cancer. Within article 10 of the Charter it was agreed that 4th of February would be World Cancer Day.
Physiotherapists to meet to Discuss our role in the Fight Against Cancer
In Amsterdam on the 5th of June 2018, the first Internaional Conference on Physical Therapy in Oncology (ICPTO) will take place. The meeting will contain plenary sessions on the topics of the role of physical therapy in oncology, and workshop sessions about the treatment of musculoskeletal sequelae to cancer treatment, exercise interventions aimed at reducing side-effects, and basic aspects of exercise physiology in cancer.
We’ve made a lot of progress in the fight against cancer in the past decade. With the addition of the ICPTO conference and the oncology resources available to therapists via Physiopedia, the coming decade will be just as strong if not stronger.