News
27 January 2017

One week to go until World Cancer Day

4 February is one week away, here is an online pocket guide including everything you need to know to get ready for World Cancer Day.

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What is it all about?

World Cancer Day takes place every year on 4 February to unite the world in the fight against cancer. The Day aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, and pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action.

Who can get involved?

Anyone and everyone.
From all walks of life, all ages and from all around the world. As individuals and organisations, every action counts.

How can I help?

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

Take a look at the World Cancer Day campaign toolkit for ideas on how to get involved. 

What is ‘We can. I can.’?

‘We can. I can.’ is the World Cancer Day theme, and explores how everyone – as a collective or as individuals – can do their part to reduce the global burden of cancer. Just as cancer affects everyone in different ways, everyone has the power to take action to reduce the impact that cancer has.

Let's end the injustice of preventable suffering - Ban Ki-moon #WorldCancerDay https://t.co/8JiGlcmPcw #WeCanICan pic.twitter.com/NanyluPOlE

— United Nations (@UN) February 4, 2016

What is Support through Sport?  

This year, World Cancer Day is highlighting physical activity in the fight against cancer through the Support through Sport initiative. We’re encouraging fans, organisations and personalities to use their voice and social reach to spread the message. One of the most powerful ways to achieve this is through the collective power of social media – and anyone can get involved.

The Support through Sport social media activity is asking everyone to:

  1. Simply take a ball, racket, frisbee, skis, helmet, paddle, hand or any other sport gear and write the World Cancer Day hashtag on it: #WeCanICan
  2. Take a photo of you, your team or your club with the #WeCanICan hashtag
  3. Show your support by sharing your photo as far and wide as you can across Facebook Instagram and Twitter, including #WeCanICan and #WorldCancerDay in your post
  4. Then encourage others you know to do the same. 

#WorldCancerDay #WeCanICan #SupportThroughSport Our BP gym participants showing their support through sport! pic.twitter.com/3sP9xRH6D3

— ESCA (@esca_cancer) January 17, 2017

What is Thunderclap and how does it work?

Thunderclap is a way to get the World Cancer Day message across Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr at the same time, on the same date with the same message – helping us to reach more people and give us a bigger voice on social media.  Anyone with a Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr account can sign up until the 4 February,10:00 AM UTC.

Thanks to everyone who have already signed up, including: Livestrong, MAKNA Malaysia, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, and Screen Cancer UK and many more.  

We're joining the @uicc #WorldCancerDay thunderclap. Together we can make a difference in the fight against #cancer. https://t.co/Pfn2dQA80w

— LIVESTRONG (@livestrong) January 25, 2017

What’s new in 2017?

We’ve put together a handful of new resources available to help you show your support for World Cancer Day:

All of the materials, including posters, social media banners and graphics, and factsheets are freely available on our website for you to download, add your logo and share.

How can I get on the Wall of Support?

The World Cancer Day Wall of Support features all the photos taking part in the Support through Sport social media activity. To make sure you get yourself featured on the Wall of Support, include both official World Cancer Day hashtags: #WorldCancerDay and #WeCanICan in your post. 

Can I add my activity to the Map of Impact?

If you are organising an activity or event – however big or small – in support of World Cancer Day, we’re inviting you to share this with the world on the Map of Impact. Simply:

  1. Head over to the World Cancer Day website
  2. Click on “Map” in the top navigation bar  
  3. In the top right hand corner, click on the “Add your activity” button
  4. Fill in your activity details, add an image or log if you can and press "submit". 
  5. Then, we’ll have your activity on the Map within 24 hours.

What will be happening on the Day?

People all over will be coming together to mark the Day. There are hundreds of activities taking place - take a look at the Map of Impact to see if there are events happening in a city near you – and why not join in or volunteer?  

A few days before 4 February, the home page of worldcancerday.org will be taken over with a live tweet map, showing all the Twitter activity across the world. If you’re tweeting from 1 – 5 February, make sure to include the hashtag #WorldCancerDay or #WeCanICan to light up the map.

The world's media will be covering World Cancer Day on TV, radio, online and in newspapers, and for the past couple of year's World Cancer Day has trended on social media ,so make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get all the updates.

For more information on World Cancer Day, visit worldcancerday.org. 

Last update

Friday 07 June 2019

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