Joining the world in marking the ‘World Cancer Day’, IVI Middle East Fertility Clinic launched a campaign to spread awareness about the disease and its correlation to fertility and starting a family.

The campaign expects to raise awareness of the disease that continues to cause millions of deaths worldwide. The campaign targets key areas as early detection, know-how of family history, adapting a positive lifestyle that includes cutting down on smoking and tobacco intake, eating and exercising well, consuming plant-based diet and reducing processed meat, maintaining a healthy weight, less salt intake and getting sufficient Vitamin D. The campaign also brings to light an important yet lesser known fact that fertility preservation can help patients achieve their dream of being parents post recovery from the disease.

“As the number of people who are diagnosed with cancer continues to grow, we need to double our efforts to educate our population about the disease as well as key preventive measures, which include understanding family medical history and adopting a healthy lifestyle. We also reiterate the significance of regular medical check-ups for early detection. If detected early, the chances of beating the disease are higher,” said Dr Laura Melado, IVF specialist, IVI Fertility, Abu Dhabi.

Available figures released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer showed that the global cancer burden grew to an estimated 18.1mn new cases and 9.6mn deaths in 2018. In the Middle East, the World Health Organization forecasted that cancer cases could double by 2030.

“We highly recommend that couples visit a fertility specialist to discuss not only their options but get answers to all concerns as well. This way, they can make a more informed decision. Their dream of having a child does not need to die with the cancer diagnosis or treatment. The advancements in reproductive medicine have been phenomenal and can help them in their parenthood journey,” added Dr Barbara Lawrenz, IVF specialist, IVI Fertility, Abu Dhabi.