World Cancer Day

World Cancer Day is the one singular initiative under which the entire world can unite together to reduce the global cancer burden. It takes place every year on 4 February.

World Cancer Day is an international day observed every 4 February to raise awareness about cancer, encourage its prevention, and mobilise action to address the global cancer epidemic.

The day is led by UICC and was established in the year 2000.

UICC continues to expand on the success and impact of the day and is committed to ensuring that year-on-year the event is seen and heard by more people around the world. UICC does this by developping a campaign that serves the different organisational priorities of its members worldwide.

UICC offers tools and guidance to encourage its member organisations to run local cancer awareness campaigns that are aligned and adapted to the global World Cancer Day message.
On an above-country level, UICC works to seize digital, traditional and social media opportunities to raise public awareness of the day.

Through the continued support of members and key partners, World Cancer Day has firmly cemented itself in calendars across the world.

World Cancer Day is more than a day on the calendar. That’s why our campaign is built to inspire change and mobilise action long after the day itself. A multi-year campaign means more exposure and engagement, more opportunities to build global awareness and ultimately more impact. 

The theme for World Cancer Day 2025-2027 is United by Unique, which will explore different dimensions of people-centred cancer care and new ways of making a difference. The three- year journey from raising awareness to taking action aims to create a collective narrative that emphasises the importance of compassionate and personalised care.

The slogan ‘United by Unique’ highlights the fact that people have unique stories, needs, perspectives and situations that need to be taken into consideration when shaping care and health systems, while the community and everyone with an experience of cancer is united in their aim to take action against cancer.

Visit the World Cancer Day website

Read the World Cancer Day 2024 Impact Report

“Every one of us is united by a shared vision to give all cancer patients more — more ways to treat their cancer, more quality in their lives, more time. MSD’s unwavering commitment is what we believe will bring us a closer to our goal of bringing life to more patients with cancer.”

Sophie Opdyke Senior Vice President, Global Oncology Marketing, MSD

“At Sanofi, we recognise that every cancer patient is unique. We are inspired by their resilience in our mission to develop novel treatment options, expand access to therapies and provide comprehensive patient support resources. We are proud to be a partner of World Cancer Day and the United by Unique campaign to find solutions for the future of cancer care.”

Olivier Nataf Global Head, Oncology Franchise, Sanofi

“While we have different languages, varied cultures and diverse origins, we share a common enemy: cancer. World Cancer Day reminds us that cancer affects millions around the world and that if we work together, we can defeat it.”

Kenji Lopez Cuevas Lawyer, Founder and President Cancer Warriors of Mexico

Explore more

List of words associated with cancer: courage, grief, love, despair, strength, cancer

Behind every diagnosis lies a unique human story - stories of grief, pain, healing, resilience, love and more. That’s why a people-centred approach to cancer care that fully integrates each individual’s unique needs, with compassion and empathy, leads to the best health outcomes.

In 2022, some 9.6 million people died of cancer, and this is projected to increase to 13.2 million in 2030. Over one million children lose their mother to cancer every year, and 1.4 million lose their father.