About World Cancer Day

What is World Cancer Day?

A key international cancer awareness day, World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4 February to unite the world to reduce the cancer burden. The Day aims to save millions of lives each year through education, raising awareness and by pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action. 

When is World Cancer Day?

World Cancer Day happens every year on 4 February. In 2024, World Cancer Day will take place on a Sunday. 

Find out more about the origin of World Cancer Day here.

When and how was World Cancer Day established?

World Cancer Day was established by the Paris Charter adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millenium in Paris on 4 February 2000. This Charter aimed at the promotion of research for curing as well as preventing cancer, improving services provided to patients, raising awareness among the general public, and mobilising the global community against cancer.

In its article 10, the Charter established that 4 February would therefore be World Cancer Day, so that the Charter of Paris would remain in the hearts and minds of people around the world.

Read the Charter here

Is World Cancer Day a registered charity?

World Cancer Day is coordinated by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) who in turn is a registered charity in Geneva, Switzerland. 

What is/are the official colour(s) of World Cancer Day?

The official colours of World Cancer Day are blue and orange.

What is the theme for World Cancer Day 2024?

The 2022-2024 World Cancer Day theme is: ‘Close the Care Gap’. The first year of the campaign was all about understanding and recognising the inequities in cancer care across the globe. 

The second year was about celebrating progress in its many forms that enable more people to seek and receive the care they need and deserve.

The last year of the campaign is about bringing attention to a higher level– literally – and raise our voices to engage our leaders, asking policymakers and decision makers around the world to prioritise cancer, develop innovative strategies to reduce inequity and invest in achieving a more equitable and cancer-free world. We will call on leaders to eliminate health inequities by addressing the social determinants of health that contribute to them, ensuring that everyone has access to quality health services when, where and how they need them.   

Read more

Getting involved

Who can get involved?

Anyone and everyone.

From all walks of life, all ages and from all around the word. We’re counting on everyone’s support: individuals, organisations, corporates, schools, cities, governments, hospitals and communities – especially you - because every action counts. 

How can I get involved? 

In whatever way that you can spread the message of World Cancer Day to your family, friends, colleagues, community, media and governments will help us reach the objective of getting as many people as possible to talk, hear, read and learn about cancer.

The Action toolkit is a good starting point for ideas and examples of how to mark World Cancer Day. You might also find some inspiration from what others are doing by browsing the Map of Activities.

Find out more

How can I volunteer with World Cancer Day?

We are always looking for supporters. One of the best ways to support World Cancer Day is getting involved with your own activity - refer to the Action toolkit to find out how. Another way is to support an existing activity. You may want to check our Map of Activities for activities happening in your local area and to find out how you can get involved. 

If you don’t see any activities near you, we recommend you get in direct contact with your local cancer organisation. Take a look at the UICC member organisations list here. 

Do you offer a certificate of participation or recognition?

We sure do! By submitting your World Cancer Day activity on the Map of Activities, you are eligible to receive a digital Certificate of Participation. If you would like to receive your copy, please email hello@worldcancerday.org with the name of the individual or organisation that you would like recognised on the certificate as well as a weblink to your World Cancer Day activity. Please note only one certificate will be sent per organiser. 

Please also note that certificates will be provided up until 28 February 2024. Any activities submitted to the Map after this date will not receive a certificate. 

How can I help with translating World Cancer Day materials?

We’re always trying to make World Cancer Day as accessible as possible for everyone. If you are unable to find the World Cancer Day materials in your language and would like to work together on the translation, we’d love to hear from you. Send us an email at hello@worldcancerday.org.

Using our materials

May I use the materials available on the website? 

Of course, our materials are all provided free to download and use. In fact, we encourage it. The only thing we ask is that you link to our website and/or give us credit.

In copyright terms, the material is licensed under the following conditions:

Creative Commons License
World Cancer Day Campaign Material by Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

  • Attribution. You must give the original author credit.
  • Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one.
  • For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work.
  • Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
If I use the World Cancer Day materials, do I need to mention your website or logo?

Yes, we would appreciate if you would link to our website and acknowledge us as the creators of the material.

Can I add the logo of my organisation to the materials, for example on the poster?

You are more than welcome to add your logo and organisation’s details to the World Cancer Day materials; however, we do ask that you keep the World Cancer Day logo and website address without making any changes to the way it currently appears.

Do you have materials in my language? 

All World Cancer Day materials are available in English, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Arabic.

Selected World Cancer Day materials are also available in other languages. Use the language drop down box to see whether there are materials available in your language, here

If you still are unable to find materials in your language, we are always looking for support in translating the materials. Drop us a line at hello@worldcancerday.org to volunteer your support.

I’m having trouble with the custom poster / social media tool. Am I doing something wrong?

You’re probably not doing anything wrong. But these tips might help you troubleshoot the problem:

  • If you are uploading an image, make sure your image is a PNG, GIF, JPG or JPEG file.
  • One of the most frequent reasons why the image doesn’t upload is the image size: check that your file isn’t more than 300MB.
  • When you upload your image and the screen turns white, it most likely means your image is too small. We suggest trying with a higher resolution image.
  • If you are adding text to the poster, and the screen turns white, it may be because you have included a special character, like * or @. Sometimes, the tool doesn’t like these characters. Try excluding these characters from your text.

Custom tool still not working? Contact us at hello@worldcancerday.org and we’ll see how we can help.

Do you have a press release?

Every year, we publish a press release for anyone to use to help spread the word. The global World Cancer Day press release will be available publicly on the website before World Cancer Day, and will be available to UICC member organisations under embargo in January. 

 About the World Cancer Day Call to Action

What is a call to action?

A call to action (CTA) to a political representative is a message or directive aimed at motivating the representative to take a specific action on a particular issue or concern, in this case it is about reducing the inequities in cancer care.  

What happens after the Call to Action is submitted?

The Call to Action will be delivered by email to the political representative you selected on the action page. It is not possible to know what decisions will be taken by the political representative following this call for action. 

What can I do beyond joining the Call to Action to support this cause?

If you have not already done so, please join a cancer organisation in your country to continue sustained advocacy efforts for greater equity and access to cancer services, so that the call to action is truly heard. 

Additional actions you can take to further support the cause including volunteering, donating or participating in related events or campaigns. Learn more about it here.  

Can I join the Call to Action anonymously?

This Call of Action requires the user to fill in their email address, first name and last name. It is not possible to join the Call anonymously. 

Is my personal information safe when joining the Call to Action?

Once you have clicked on the "add your voice" button to participate in the Call to Action, your e-mail address, name, surname and the country you have indicated will be communicated to the representative you have selected. UICC will not share this information with anyone else. If you need further information, please contact hello@worldcancerday.org

Can I share the Call to Action with others?

Absolutely, we encourage you to share the Call to Action with others.The more people who support the cause, the stronger our impact will be. You can share it through social media, email, or by simply spreading the word. Here’s how to take action

How can I stay updated on the progress of the Call to Action and the issue it addresses?

We invite you to subscribe to the World Cancer Day newsletter. You can also subscribe to the Union for International Cancer Control newsletter if you wish additional information. Please write to hello@worldcancerday.org to subscribe. 

Fundraising

How can I donate to support World Cancer Day?

Thank you for supporting World Cancer Day! You can make a donation easily online here: World Cancer Day donations

I want to donate, but don’t have a credit card or PayPal account. Is there another way?

Thanks for considering donating to World Cancer Day. You can make a secure online donation here

If you can’t or would rather not donate online, you can choose to make a donation via bank transfer or by mailing through a cheque. If you would like to find out how, please email the team at hello@worldcancerday.org for further details. 

I am seeking financial help / funding. Can you help?

Unfortunately, we are not in a position to respond to any questions regarding treatment nor able to assist patients medically and/or financially. We also regret that we won’t be able to provide any funding or sponsorship of activities or events that you are considering for World Cancer Day. 

Map of Activities

How do I add my activity to the Map of Activities?

If you are organising an activity or event – however big or small – in support of World Cancer Day, we invite you to share this with the world on the Map of Activities.

Simply:

  1. Click on “Map of Activities” in the navigation bar 
  2. Scroll down past the map, click on the “Add your activity” button
  3. Fill out the online form and submit your activity details
  4. Your activity will be then reviewed by our team and posted on the map within 24-48 hours
How long does it take for my activity to show on the Map of Activities?

Typically, your activity will show within 24 – 48 hours. Towards World Cancer Day, you can imagine we receive many submissions, so it may take a little bit longer for your activity to show up. Check back in a day or two. If you still can’t see your activity, feel free to email us at hello@worldcancerday.org

I submitted my activity to the Map of Activities but I need to make a change/correction, how can I do that?

No worries. You should have received an email with a unique link when you submitted your activity. Simply click on the link to edit your activity. 

If you can't locate that email, simply email us at hello@worldcancerday.org to edit your activity details. To help things along, ensure to include your organisation’s name and the title of your activity as well as the changes you would like made. 

Social media

How can I get on the Wall of Support? / Why am I not on the Wall of Support?

The World Cancer Day Wall of Support features all the posts relating to World Cancer Day. To make sure you get yourself featured on the Wall of Support, don’t forget to include both official World Cancer Day hashtags: #WorldCancerDay and #CloseTheCareGap in your post. 

Questions about cancer

I want to find out more about cancer. Do you have information and statistics?

There are many resources available on this website and on other websites. We suggest you take a look at the following pages: 

For more general resources and information, check out the Useful links and resources page. 

If you are looking for specific information on cancer statistics in your own country, we encourage you to contact your national cancer society or explore the Cancer Today website. Feel free to consult the list of UICC member organisations to contact them directly. 

General

Am I really talking to a real person through the Live chat function?

Yes, you are. In fact, you’re talking with a member of the World Cancer Day team.