Improvement of personal hygiene such as of mouth, skin and genitals will help to reduce the incidence of certain types of cancer.
Control of air pollution can be regarded as another preventive measure.
All drugs, cosmetics, and food additives should be tested for carcinogenesis.
Special efforts should be made to reduce the amount of radiation (including medical radiation) received by each individual to a minimum without reducing the benefits.
Measures to protect workers from carcinogenic agents should be enforced in industries.
Use of pesticides of various types is being recognized as a source of many diseases, including cancers. Use of DDT/BHC, Malathion and such other pesticides should be reduced and regulated.
Legislation has also a role in primary prevention. The State has promulgated legislation with regard to air pollution, and for inserting statutory warning on cigarette packets. Legislation, however, needs to be enforced strictly.
Cancer registration is an important means of prevention of cancer. It provides a base for assessing the magnitude of the problem in an area and country and for planning the necessary services. It provides opportunities to study:
· Incidence and prevalence of cancer.
· Geographic differences in cancer.
· Clustering (in time, space or person) of specific cancers.
· Effect of socio-economic variables upon cancer incidence.
· Effect of occupational exposures upon cancer rates.
· Influence of other environmental exposures upon the development of cancer.
· Length of survival as related to specific cancer treatment.
Diet and human life-styles have a potential effect on cancer in a community. Cancer of the gastrointestinal tract are probably closely related to diet and life-styles. Food, particularly fat, having even traces of pesticides in it, can prove carcinogenic in the long run. Cancer is a multi-stage phenomenon. Interruption is possible at different stages.