According to Statistics Canada, the leading cause of death in the country is
malignant neoplasms otherwise known as cancer. This is why the several branches of the government and non-profit organizations develop many programs that are geared towards cancer awareness and prevention. However despite these efforts, the numbers of new cancer cases are still on the rise, many of which are only determined after chronic symptoms which can be managed by acquiring a first aid certification have surfaced.
Who are at risk?
Even though there are a lot of researchers and scientists who devote their entire life in studying cancer cells, this medical condition remains idiopathic. This means that its origin or main cause is still unknown. However, several breakthroughs in the field have identified many risk factors which increase the likelihood of the formation of cancer cells. And according to the Canadian Cancer Society, 46% of men and 41% of women in Canada are exposed to these risk factors.
How many are newly diagnosed
According to the same source, 24.5% of new cancer cases in men are located in the prostate while 26.1% of new cancer cases in women are located in the breast. Overall, there was more than 180, 000 new cases of identified or diagnosed cancer patients in 2013 alone wherein 96, 200 of these patients were men while the remaining 91, 400 were women. Looking at the prevalence rate of new cancer cases in the previous years, it becomes clear that the number of new cancer cases rise each year. This can be attributed to a lot of factors such as the growing population and genetics.
Undiagnosed cases
Certain types of cancer remain undiagnosed until a certain time that a serious or chronic symptom becomes apparent such as ovarian cancer which
means that there are many cases wherein the patients are only brought to the clinic during the late stages of the disease. This is one of the reasons why the survivability rate of patients who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer within a 5-year period is only 30%. Several sources also claim that the rate of undiagnosed cancer cases in the entire world is actually equivalent to millions.
Before acquiring a first aid certification, trainees are taught how to manage medical conditions or crises which can be symptoms of cancer. Considering that the numbers of people who may experience these symptoms are high, the number of individuals who may require first aid is also high. Trainees will also be taught to encourage patients to seek medical attention after their first aid management in order to determine the cause of their medical dilemma.