World Pancreatic Cancer Day is an initiative of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition. It is a day that unites the world’s population in the fight against pancreatic cancer during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action, with the ultimate goal of increasing the five-year survival rate of this deadly disease.
This year’s date is: Thursday, November 17th 2022
Why is World Pancreatic Cancer Day Important?
Currently, 8.2 million people die from cancer worldwide every year, out of which 4 million die prematurely (aged 30 to 69 years). There are around 496,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer each year and it is the 7th biggest cancer killer (5th in the UK). However, so many people know nothing about it. But they can be forgiven for that because unfortunately, it barely gets attention.
This cancer is chronically underfunded and has languished in the ‘too-hard-to-deal-with’ category for far too long. This is reflected in the dire survival rates between 3 to 8%, which haven’t improved for almost 50 years.
More awareness and understanding about the illness amongst the public, the medical community, governments, as well as the resulting investment and interest in the disease, will allow more people to be diagnosed in time for surgery – currently the only potential for a cure.
For more on World Pancreatic Cancer Day, you can visit their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
How can I get involved?
World Pancreatic Cancer Day is the ideal opportunity to spread the word and raise the profile of cancer in people’s minds and in the world’s media.
It’s About Time
The theme for this year’s World Pancreatic Cancer Day is “It’s About Time”. This year, we’re inviting EVERYONE to download the “It’s About Time” poster, which you can download here. We’re asking you to download and print yours out, and picture yourself on World Pancreatic Cancer Day with your sign, post to social media and tag us on our social media channels, as well as using the hashtags #DecadeofChange #ItsAboutTime #PancreaticCancerAwarenessMonth #WPCD. This will help to raise awareness of this deadly disease outside of our wider community.
