Health Professionals: Partners in establishing and promoting awareness, prevention and treatment of cancers”
May 31, 2012
by
Gerardo de Cosio, MD, MPH
PAHO/WHO Representative to Belize

Good morning colleagues in health, ladies and gentlemen. It gives me pleasure to participate in this important Cancer Care Symposium as this is an important global public health problem and a priority for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

World Health Organization (WHO) has published that “Cancer is to a large extent avoidable. Many cancers can be prevented. Others can be detected early in their development, treated and cured. Even with late stage cancer, the pain can be reduced, the progression of the cancer slowed, and patients and their families helped to cope.” But how to reach this level when we all know that cancer treatment and care is very expensive, when there is scarcity of human resources, or the cancer facilities, treatment and diagnosis technology are just simply not there or they are limited.