Did you know? 15 September is World Lymphoma Awareness Day celebrates every year. For your information, lymphoma cancer is a blood cancer that occurs when lymphocyte cells (white blood cells) multiply out of control.
If not treated early, it can be fatal. In fact, in Malaysia, it ranks as the fourth most common cancer, according to the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
15 September merupakan Hari Kesedaran Limfoma Sedunia yang disambut setiap tahun.
Apa itu kanser limfoma❓Kanser limfoma adalah kanser darah yang terjadi apabila sel limfosit (sel darah putih) membiak di luar kawal. pic.twitter.com/bqFRPMuu3d
— KKMalaysia🇲🇾😷 (@KKMPutrajaya) September 15, 2022
Next, the main symptoms are:
- lumps in the neck, armpits, or the base of the neck
- prolonged fever
- loss of appetite
- weight loss
- skin rash and itching
Picture: Lymphoma Action infographic 2021
The history
Interestingly, World Lymphoma Awareness Day (WLAD) is celebrated on 15 September every year in order to create public awareness of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer. Also, it is an initiative by the Lymphoma Coalition. It’s a global network of 83 patient groups located in Ontario, Canada founded in 2002. In addition to that, they aim to enable global impact by cultivating a lymphoma ecosystem that ensures local change and evidence-based action. Moreover, one of their primary functions is to give organization members a platform to share resources, best practices, rules, and procedures.
The theme for 2022
This year 2022, the World Lymphoma Awareness Day theme is “We Can’t-Wait – There is an urgent need to improve the ways lymphomas are diagnosed, treated, and tracked!”. Additionally, it focuses on enhancing the diagnosis, therapies, and tracking of its sub-types to provide the most information about the signs and symptoms to the global community. Besides that, they want to promote early diagnosis and initiatives toward the right kind of treatment.
Thus, it’s important to educate every individual about cancer. Such as the lymphatic systems, symptoms, and signs to restrain the increasing tendency of cancer.
For more information about World Lymphoma Awareness Day, do visit this website.
Sources: Lymphoma Org, Pace Hospital, KKM, UICC
