- New research by the World Health Organisation and its International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates that 7.1 million of 18.7 million new cancer cases diagnosed worldwide in 2022 were preventable.
- The study, which analysed 30 risk factors, found that smoking, infections, and alcohol consumption account for the majority of the global preventable cancer burden.
- In the UK, over 148,000 new cancer cases, representing 32.6 per cent of the total, were attributed to preventable factors such as tobacco smoking, excess body fat, and ultraviolet radiation.
- Experts highlighted that smoking is the leading cause of cancer, responsible for 16.2 per cent of UK cases, followed by excess body fat at 4.2 per cent and UV radiation at 3.6 per cent.
- Dr Andre Ilbawi of the WHO stressed the importance of prevention strategies focusing on risk reduction and policy solutions, rather than blaming individuals, to tackle avoidable illness and death.
IN FULL
