The Press TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 1970. Early Treatment Of Cancer

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32265, 7 April 1970, Page 14

The Press TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 1970. Early Treatment Of Cancer

This is World Health Day; and its theme, chosen and promoted by the World Health Organisation of the United Nations, is the early detection of cancer. In many countries cancer is second only to diseases of the heart and arteries as a cause of death. Because of this, and because cancer is a disease about which there is still very little easy and informed discussion, the theme is well chosen. To mark this day the Cancer Society of New Zealand has published a special issue of its quarterly bulletin. It is wholly devoted to the goal of early detection. The message of this bulletin and of the World Health Organisation is emphatic. While the medical profession acknowledges that the fundamental problems of the disease have yet to be solved, and while many forms of cancer cannot, with present knowledge, be prevented, the number of patients cured would double if the disease were diagnosed at an early stage. Most early cancers can be cured. Early detection is not simple. It requires a painstaking examination by a doctor; but there are warning signals which should alert any person and cause him to arrange for an examination. The Cancer Society, as part of its service to the community, supplies booklets on several aspects of cancer—on the dangers of smoking, on cancer of the skin, on “Cancer Facts for Women”, and “Cancer Facts for Men”. These booklets may be obtained without charge. Greater public knowledge would dispel many of the unfortunate misunderstandings about the disease. Although there is every reason to regard this as a serious disease the means of controlling it or curing it in many of its forms are much more advanced than most people realise. Some persons who fear, perhaps unwarrantedly, that they have the disease fail to consult a doctor as promptly as they might, thus denying themselves peace of mind or the tremendous advantage of having early treatment