World Cancer Day 2024: When is it and how can I support it?

There are hundreds of events happening all over the world to raise money
World Cancer Day is celebrated each year by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)
Unsplash
Nuray Bulbul23 January 2024

In February, World Cancer Day 2024 will raise awareness of the Close The Care Gap campaign, to reduce the inequities that exist in accessing quality cancer services worldwide.

The focus of the final year of this three-year campaign is to encourage supporters "to become lifelong advocates fully equipped to push for lasting change."

Aside from innovation and medical advancements, real-world progress is also celebrated. Even the most modest actions can have a big impact, such as encouraging people to drive a neighbour to cancer treatment or making sure that the local school provides a variety of healthy and affordable food options.

Here’s everything you need to know about World Cancer Day 2024 and how to participate.

When is it?

World Cancer Day is celebrated every year on February 4.

Created in 2000, World Cancer Day aims to raise worldwide awareness, improve education, and inspire action, both personal and from the Government, against preventable cancer deaths.

It is a global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

How can I support the campaign?

There are hundreds of events happening all over the world, such as UICC's 5k Challenge, which encourages people from all walks of life to complete a 5 km loop by running, cycling, swimming, trekking, or other methods as a way to bring attention to the cause. Participants are then encouraged to post their activities on social media, with the hashtags #WorldCancerDay and #CloseTheCareGap.

There are also 21-day challenges, for people to create new positive healthy habits or educate themselves and speak out about inequities in accessing cancer services.

In order to participate, choose one of the three challenges on the UICC website, sign up, and then, every morning, you will receive an email with a lesson, an inspiring prompt, or a new activity to engage in.

If these activities don’t fit your schedule or you choose not to participate, World Cancer Day also take donations through their website.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in