Cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world. From a total of 58 million deaths worldwide in 2005, cancer accounts for 7.6 million (or 13%) of all deaths. The main types of cancer leading to overall cancer mortality are:

• Lung Cancer causes 1.3 million deaths per year
• Stomach Cancer caused almost 1 million deaths per year
• Liver Cancer causes 662,000 deaths per year
• Colon Cancer causes 655,000 deaths per year and
• Breast Cancer causes 502,000 deaths per year

More than 70% of all cancer deaths in 2005 occurred in low and middle income countries. Deaths from cancer continue to rise, with an estimated 9 million people dying from cancer in 2015 and 11.4 million dying in 2030. The most frequent cancer types world wide are:

• Among men (in order of number of global deaths): lung, stomach, liver, colorectal, oesophagus and prostate.
• Among women (in order of number of global deaths):breast, lung, stomach, colorectal and cervical.

40% of cancer can be prevented by adopting a healthy diet, engaging in physical activity and not using tobacco.

Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of cancer in the world. Tobacco use causes cancer of the lung, throat, mouth, pancreas, bladder, stomach, liver, kidney and other types; Passive smoking causes lung cancer too.

One-fifth of cancers worldwide can be attributed to chronic infections, mainly from Hepatitis B Viruses HBV (causing liver), Human Papilloma Viruses HPV (causing cervix), Helicobacter Pylori (causing stomach), Schistosomes (causing bladder), The Liver Fluke (bile duct) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV (Kaposi sarcoma and lymphomas).