The Role of Public Education in Cancer Detection

The Role of Public Education in Cancer Detection

The major communicable diseases can, to a large extent, be controlled by legislation and by vigorous public health measures; and for one form of cancer at least prevention is perfectly feasible, if people can be persuaded or obliged to give up heavy cigarette smoking. But of most cancers it can be said with some truth that until the introduction of effective screening tests, the patient was responsible for the first vital step in diagnosis — deciding that some symptom calls for a visit to his doctor. To a large extent this is still true, since practicable tests are not yet available for the early detection of all forms of cancer, and the tests that are practicable are either not yet available in all countries, or not yet generally accepted by the population at risk.