National Cancer Prevention Month occurs every February to highlight the importance of cancer prevention.
According to the World Health Organization, up to 50% of all cancers could be prevented by choosing healthy behaviors and getting immunized. While no cancer is entirely preventable, we can reduce our risk of getting specific types of cancers—including lung, skin, cervical and testicular— by avoiding all tobacco products, protecting our skin from UV radiation, and getting immunized against human papillomavirus (HPV).
In honor of National Cancer Prevention Month, Cancer Pathways developed cancer prevention one-pagers for both teens and parents to be distributed in schools and throughout the community. The Teen Guide to Cancer Risk Reduction highlights the importance of staying away from all tobacco products, protecting skin from harmful UV radiation, getting the HPV vaccination, and maintaining a healthy body weight. The parent guide provides a high-level overview on different cancer prevention topic areas parents can discuss with their teens.
As a supplement to these one-pagers, we compiled a listing of Additional Resources that includes reputable organizations and evidenced-based information and resources about each type of cancer highlighted.
Throughout the year, Cancer Pathways continues implementing cancer prevention education through our Cancer Happens® teen education and risk reduction program. These presentations take place in middle schools and high schools throughout the United States and create a safe space for youth to talk about cancer, learn cancer prevention strategies, ask questions, receive social and emotional support, and improve their health trajectory. Cancer Happens is available in two formats: 1) a 45-minute live presentation from a trained health educator, or 2) eLearning modules. To date, we have reached over 110,000 teens and adolescents through this program.
Lastly, Cancer Pathways highlights the importance of prevention through our Community Education program. We partner with other individuals and organizations to bring awareness to specific types of cancers, organize cancer education and awareness events, host webinars and podcast episodes, and engage in on-the-ground action—like blood donation drives.
In honor of Cancer Prevention Month, we invite you to review and share the one pagers and resource page with teens and parents in your community. These resources can be downloaded via the hyperlinks above and are presented in the section below. If you are interested in learning more about our work or bringing Cancer Happens® to your school or community, please reach out to us at [email protected].
