Cancer association head urges people to use phones less

ISTANBUL – Demirören News Agency

The head of the Turkish Cancer Association has warned young people to use their mobile phones less.

“Cancer cases started to be seen also among the youth. Some 35-40 percent of cancer cases are among the youth. Especially, cases of testicular cancer have increased. Our youth should not carry their mobile phones on them and should stay away from them as much as possible,” Burak Duruman said on April 2 at a meeting conducted to raise awareness about cancer.

“A total of 165,000 people are diagnosed with cancer annually. This number will continue to increase [every year]. So, do not be afraid of cancer, but be afraid of getting late [diagnosis],” said Duruman.

The meeting held at Istanbul’s Sait Halim Pasha Mansion was organized as part of the Cancer Week of April 1 to 7. It was attended by many renowned doctors, Demirören Group chair Yıldırım Demirören’s wife and Life Sharing and Solidarity Association (HAYPADER) chair Revna Demirören, the singer Linet, and many other names from the business and arts world.

“We can get cancer, but the rate of being saved, thanks to early diagnosis, is very high in many cancer types. Early diagnosis in breast cancer saves life almost 100 percent of the times. Our association has helped 3 million people so far. Since we have a public status we are trying to help our people everywhere,” he said.

The renowned doctor urged people not to skip their regular scanning for cancer diagnosis, saying: “We have nothing more important than our bodies.”

“Fifty percent of the Turkish population is under the age of 25. So, if we cannot train our youth regarding the issue of awareness, this disease [cancer] will continue to advance. And besides that, we will start to see late diagnosis cases,” he said.

Prof. Dr. Füsun Tokatlı, an oncology doctor, also took the floor during the meeting, referring to cancer as “our era’s plague.” “Besides chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgical approaches, the innovations at radiotherapy stepped into a new age…The most important property of radiotherapy devices are that they have lowered the treatment process to very low time-spans,” she said.

Another professor of oncology, Prof. Dr. İbrahim Tek, said that cancer was the second mostly seen disease following cardiac diseases in the U.S., but now it is the mostly encountered disease in the country and one of the most serious health problems in the world.

“Fourteen million people are diagnosed with cancer every year, and of this, eight million die of cancer. The rate of cancer occurrence in Turkey is somewhere in between [with regards to world figures]. This means it is lower than in Europe but more than the east,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, Revna Demirören urged people to get regular checkups done. “Yes, early diagnosis saves life… Our health is our most important treasure. This is why the Turkish Cancer Association is always with us,” Demirören said, also thanking Duruman for his “big effort.”