Date: 26 January 2010
Att: News Editor
For immediate release
Better than cure – prevention
In honour of World Cancer Day, 4th February 2010, with the theme “Cancer can be prevented too”, the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) is hosting a Symposium in Pretoria on cancer and the environment with Guest Speaker Dr Devra Davis. She is currently Professor of Preventive Medicine at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York and was the Founding Director of the world’s first Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health.
Dr Davis and other experts will be talking on environmental carcinogens (cancer-causing factors), what we know, what we don’t know and what you can do to reduce your risk.
“Research shows that up to 90% of cancers are caused by environmental factors and as such it is vital for the country to sit up and take note,” says CANSA CEO, Sue Janse van Rensburg.
“Why isn’t prevention the focus of the war on cancer?” Dr Davis asks in her book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer that is being launched at the symposium with Exclusive Books. Dr Davis M.P.H., Ph.D, award-winning American scientist and writer, is recognised internationally for her work on environmental health and disease prevention.
She explains: “Proof of how the world in which we live and work affects whether we get cancer was either overlooked or suppressed. This has been no accident. The War on Cancer was run by leaders of industries that made cancer-causing products, and sometimes also profited from drugs and technologies for finding and treating the disease.”
During the symposium Dr Stella Anyangwe, AFRO representative for the World Health Organisation will present the 2008 World No Tobacco Day Achievement Award to CANSA CEO, Sue Janse van Rensburg. This is in recognition of CANSA’s accomplishments in the fight against tobacco use in South Africa.
About the book ‘The Secret History of the War on Cancer’
The War on Cancer set out to find, treat, and cure a disease. Left untouched were many of the things known to cause cancer, including tobacco, the workplace, radiation, or the global environment. Proof of how the world in which we live and work affects whether we get cancer was either overlooked or suppressed. This has been no accident. The War on Cancer was run by leaders of industries that made cancer-causing products, and sometimes also profited from drugs and technologies for finding and treating the disease. Filled with compelling personalities and never-before-revealed information, The Secret History of the War on Cancer shows how we began fighting the wrong war, with the wrong weapons, against the wrong enemies-a legacy that persists to this day. This is the gripping story of a major public health effort diverted and distorted for private gain. Copies of the book will be for sale at the event at R225-00 per book.
About The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA)
CANSA’s purpose is to lead the fight against cancer in South Africa by offering a unique and integrated service to the public and all people affected by cancer.
As a leading role-player in cancer research, the scientific findings and knowledge gained from our research are used to realign our health programmes as well as focus our watchdog initiatives to the greater benefit of the public. CANSA has more than 330 staff, 12 000 volunteers, 51 offices as well as 12 interim homes countrywide.
(For more information, contact Lucy Balona, CANSA Head: Marketing & Communications on 011 616 7662 / 082 459 5230 or call CANSA toll-free on 0800 22 66 22, or see www.cansa.org.za.)
