Credit: MSAN

The Luxembourg Ministry of Health is launching a new information and awareness campaign on this occasion of World Cancer Day on 4 February 2019.

The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Cancer Foundation, has organised this campaign to raise awareness and mobilise the public to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Indeed, 40% of cancers could be prevented through healthier life choices.

The 2019 campaign, sponsored by former professional tennis player Gilles Muller, puts a strong emphasis on prevention. In addition to early detection, prevention plays a key role in the fight against cancer. By adopting healthy lifestyles, such as avoiding smoking, having a moderate alcohol consumption and promoting a healthy diet and regular physical activity, 40% of cancers could be avoided.

For its part, the Cancer Foundation is offering several free services in terms of prevention such as the Food Lab, "How to become a non-smoker" and its FiTeam platforms. The Cancer Foundation will also highlight, in the coming weeks, the theme "How to react to a colleague with cancer? ". Faced with all the emotions caused by the disease, the Foundation will deliver suggestions and targeted responses at conferences within companies. 

In Luxembourg, cancer is the leading cause of death in men (32.1%) and the second leading cause in women (26.7%). They account for 28.2% of all deaths. The three most fatal cancers in men are lung cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer. In women, breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer are the most common causes of cancer-related deaths. About 3,000 new cases of cancer occur each year in the Grand Duchy. 

In recent years, advances in medicine have improved the chances of survival for people with cancer, but because of its high prevalence rate and its many complications, cancer remains a real public health challenge facing Luxembourg and other countries. For more than 20 years, Luxembourg has been carrying out various actions in favour of the fight against cancer. The National Cancer Plan (PNC) 2014-2018 is the first national plan to unite all actors around the disease.

In this context, the 2016-2020 National Tobacco Plan aims first and foremost to prevent smoking among children and young people, help with smokers who want to stop smoking and protect the public against second-hand smoke. Moreover, more than 500 projects and activities have been carried out during the last ten years under the GIMB label "Gesond iessen, Méi bewegen". The general objective of the GIMB 2018-2025 national action plan is to promote balanced nutrition and regular physical activity and to combat the problem of obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Meanwhile, the Mammography Programme aims to detect signs of breast cancer at an early stage; early detection  gives the woman a better chance of remission. The programme detects some 120 cancers a year. In September 2016, the Ministry of Health also launched the first Organised Screening Programme for Colorectal Cancer (PDOCCR) to combat this major public health concern.