IN its report published in 2006, the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development issued a clarion call for urgent action on a range of non-communicable diseases which, it said, had gone past epidemic proportions across the region.
Regarding the incidence of cancer, the Commission, headed by Sir George Alleyne, Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, and a noted international health specialist, said such occurrences had followed what it called "a characteristic transition over the course of modernisation".
Spelling out what this means in plain language, the report said as one example, stomach cancers were declining while that of the colon were increasing. Among men, lung and prostate cancer had become dominant and with women breast cancer had increased while cancer of the cervix had been decreasing.
"Prostate cancer is clearly dominant in parts of the Caribbean," the report said, adding that "relatively high rates of cervix and stomach are consistent with the early stage transition of these societies".
Surprisingly, it said, breast cancer was common across the region, even on a comparative basis, while colo-rectal cancers were also more frequent than might be expected.
As one of the variety of factors critical to addressing this epidemic, the Alleyne Commission report said tobacco control was an urgent imperative, and it advocated systematic screening for cervical and breast cancers among women.
But while such actions as are required to be led by the states and their relevant agencies across the region must be taken, the report also points the way to another variety of actions which individuals can take on their own, to minimise the risk of exposure to such diseases.
In one case it points to the need for individuals to pay stricter attention to their diets, saying it was generally accepted that diets high in fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer.
And as Cancer Awareness Month is currently being observed in Trinidad and Tobago, the local Cancer Society is focussing also on the many actions which individuals can take in leading the fight against it for themselves.
One of the most important factors in this battle is early detection. This means that citizens should take it as their responsibility to themselves and their families to get regular check-ups and screenings. In addition to this, there is importance of information which will serve as a means of prevention from risky behaviours.
For young people, the value of not taking up the smoking habit and, especially for women, of not engaging in sexual activity with multiple partners, is vital to their protection against some forms of cancer.
Education is the key and as the Cancer Society has set out to do once again this year, it is making a tremendous amount of information available to citizens in a variety of forms, as it takes a new campaign to several parts of the country.
We can do no better than to take advantage of these and other opportunities to inform ourselves about the ways in which we can help save and prolong our own lives.
