Month-long campaign addresses common myths about cancer

AMMAN — The King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) and the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC) on Monday launched an awareness campaign to address common fallacies about cancer titled “Enough Myths! Know Your Facts.”

Launched on the occasion of World Cancer Day which is marked every February 4, the drive is in line with a global campaign titled “Debunking the Myths” led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), a KHCF statement said.

“Debunking the Myths” seeks to correct misconceptions and raise awareness about cancer to help combat this disease and break the barrier of silence and shame, according to the foundation.

In the same vein, “Enough Myths! Know Your Facts” aims to tackle four prevalent myths in Jordan about cancer — “cancer is a death sentence, cancer has no symptoms, one cannot do anything to prevent cancer, and we don’t need to talk about cancer.”

The campaign will include an animated video and humorous caricatures providing informative messages that will be disseminated via TV ads, social media and through direct communication with partners, corporations, educational institutions and the general public in order to reach all age groups, the KHCF said. 

During the campaign, which will run throughout the month of February, the foundation will set up booths at several malls in the Kingdom to further engage the public and distribute awareness material about cancer myths and facts. 

“Cancer is a disease that feeds on ignorance and thrives on misinformation,” the statement quoted HH Princess Dina Mired, the director general of KHCF, as saying.  

“In order to successfully fight cancer, we need to raise the level of awareness about [it] and break free of the culture of shame surrounding it by arming ourselves with the right knowledge and facts.”

Asem Mansour, CEO/director general of the KHCC, noted: “World Cancer Day was established to fight misconceptions about cancer, which, if not addressed, can reinforce existing taboos and make it harder for us to fight it.” 

“Cancer does not mean death, as medical breakthroughs and technologies have allowed us to fight the disease much more successfully and help many patients heal, or at least treat it as a temporary disease that can be overcome,” he said. 

World Cancer Day is a worldwide initiative spearheaded by UICC that aims to reduce cancer rates by increasing public awareness and urging governments and individuals to take the necessary steps to fight cancer successfully. 

It is also an occasion to highlight the importance of uniting global efforts in fighting cancer through mobilising local and international organisations to spread awareness messages that help prevent and overcome cancer, the statement said.