Sooner or later, it seems, cancer has an impact on us all. That’s why World Cancer Day on February 4 is an important day to raise awareness about prevention, detection, and treatment.

World Cancer Day is more than a day on the calendar. That’s why the campaign is built to inspire change and mobilise action long after the day itself. A multi-year campaign means more exposure and engagement, more opportunities to build global awareness and ultimately more impact. This year 2023, the World Cancer Day theme is "Close the Care Gap," which is a continuation of the 2022 theme and will last till 2024 (a 3-year campaign) with specified objectives for each year. It was expected that there would be more exposure and engagement in a multi-year campaign, as well as more opportunities to raise global awareness and have an impact.

2022: Realising the problem

For the first 12 months of the "Close the Care Gap" initiative, the focus was on understanding and recognising the challenges of cancer care globally.

It’s about having an open mind, challenging assumptions and looking at the hard facts:

This was the year to question the status quo and help reduce stigma; to listen to the perspectives of the people living with cancer and their communities and let those lived experiences guide our thoughts and actions.

2023: Uniting our voices and taking action

This year focuses on building stronger alliances and new collaborations to unite the voices of like-minded people to make a powerful appeal.We should mobilise our friends, family, co-workers and communities because together we can achieve almost anything. We’ll do more than spread the word. It is also about celebrating real-world progress, not just in innovation and medical advances but even the humblest of actions that can have a significant impact

2024: Together, we challenge those in power

The final year emphasise to bring attention to the higher authorities with regard to cancer prioritisation, developing creative strategies to confront inequity and allocating resources to create a just and cancer-free world.

This World Cancer Day, what will you do to close the gap in cancer care?

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