According to a study by Indian Council of Medical Research, 'Head and Neck cancer' is among the top most
cancers affecting Indian men and the third most common ailment among women. The
National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research, Bengaluru in its report
has stated that between 2007-2011, Head and neck cancer cases accounted for 30
and 10 percent of total cancers in males and females in the country.
Doctors say that there
has been an alarming increase in incidence of head and neck cancer cases over
the past decade in developing countries like India and it is mainly due to
alcohol consumption and tobacco. Fifty percent of head and neck cancers are
oral cancers or mouth cancers which is the commonest among all HNSC cancers. Around 50
per cent of the affected people die within 12 months of its diagnosis. Throat
Cancer is next to oral cancer in terms of prevalence, it said.
However, if experts of the disease are to be believed "almost 80 percent of the head and neck
cancers are preventable since the majority of them are tobacco induced - smoke
or the smokeless forms. To draw the world's attention to effective care and
control of head and neck cancer, the International Federation of Head and Neck
Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) has
declared July 27 as declared World Head Neck Cancer Day.
On This day, let us take pledge to say no to tobacco and
adopt healthy lifestyle as stopping tobacco use and adopting a healthy
lifestyle can prevent almost 80 percent of head and neck cancer cases in India.
