The death from cancer in Bangladesh will be increased to 13 percent in 2030 from 7.5 percent in 2005, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Experts predict that cancer will be an increasingly significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Bangladesh in the next few decades. There are 1.3 to 1.5 million cancer patients in Bangladesh, with 2 lakh people being diagnosed with cancer every year.

This was informed at a childhood cancer awareness campaign and drawing competition for children afflicted with cancer at Dhaka Medical College on Thursday.

According to the World Child Cancer, more than 2 lakh children contact cancer worldwide every year and of them, around 80 percent live in low- or middle-income countries.

The survival rates are as low as 5 percent, compared to 80 percent in high-income countries.

Against this backdrop, paediatric oncologists and experts have put emphasis on creating mass awareness and taking preventive measures and early diagnosis to save lives of thousands of children from cancer.

Thousands of children die of cancer every year in the world. But public awareness, preventive measures and timely diagnosis can reduce mortality, they observed.

According to the World Child Cancer, approximately 70 percent of childhood cancer can be cured if the disease is diagnosed early and treated appropriately.

However, today around 80 percent of the world's children are deprived of advanced medical care, it says.

The World Child Cancer, and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) jointly organised the campaign under a UK aid-funded project.