Cancer, our number two killer, our modern day scourge has, since the end of the last Great War, been skyrocketing. Despite vast amounts of money being spent on research, are we any closer to reducing the cancer rate?

I've been lucky enough to have travelled, have been to many third world countries and when in these countries I like to observe how people live. Several facts with cancer which are clearly obvious, the more developed the country, the more chances one has of getting it. Looking at cancer statistics for all cancers from the "World Health Organization" (WHO) for the year 2002, for every 100 people that get cancer in the United States of America,

• 90 will get it in Australia
• 70 in Greece
• 50 in Chile
• 30 in China
• 15 in Botswana
• 10 in Vanuatu.

We are still travelling and over the last 3 years we have spent many months living in Vanuatu. We have got to know many of the local people, especially in the isolated northern islands. They don't get cancer, I've asked, also talked to doctors and been to their hospitals but we do so why?

Let's look at the different ways these people live, firstly at the food they eat.

• The majority of their food is fresh, grown locally where they live. They don't use fertilizers or sprays.
• Most of our food is commercially grown using artificial fertilizers and sprays.
• The only processed food they use is a little rice, flour and maybe sugar.
• Processed food today forms a huge part of our diet.
• They eat very little meat, some chicken, free range of course and home raised pork.
• We are big meat consumers.
• They eat no dairy products.
• We eat dairy products everyday.
• They don't use salt.
• Statistics tell us we consume 10 grams per person per day.
• They quench their thirst with coconut milk or water.
• We drink tea, coffee, soft drink and alcohol.
• Children have as a snack, paw paw, banana or some taro.
• Our children eat as a snack biscuits, chippies or lollies.
• They live in houses that are made of natural products.
• Our houses are made of products that use many chemicals, boric-treated timber and formaldehyde an insidious poison that's in curtains, carpets, upholstery and particle board flooring.
• They don't use personal care products.
• We have a vast array of products that we apply directly to our porous skin; nearly all are from the petro-chemical industry and many are known to be carcinogenic.
• They get plenty of exercise because there are few roads so they have to walk.
• We no longer get exercise as we have a car to take us where we want to go.

Now I'm sure you don't want to live the way they live or eat the food they eat everyday, but we can learn from them.

Cancer is a disease of a weak immune system which has been weakened through a lifetime of wrong eating, the use of too many chemicals and our lack of exercise. The first requirement of a person with cancer is to strengthen their immune system which is of course your guardian angel, our built-in repair system that keeps us healthy.

The way to strengthen your immune system is to eat the food that's been designed for the human being, and they are fresh fruit and vegetables. One also needs to remove the food that suppresses the immune system, and they are processed food and food that is high in fat, salt and refined sugar. In addition, one should remove all chemicals from their lifestyle that is building up toxins within the body and of course get some exercise. We need exercise as it's only through muscular activity that the immune system will function properly. It doesn't have a pump like the heart; but relies on muscular contractions to circulate the lymph, which is the immune system fluid.

The importance of oxygen in the body was discovered back in 1931 by Dr Otto Warburg, a German biochemist who won his first Nobel Prize for the discovery that oxygen deficiency and cell fermentation are part of the cancer process. He stated that cancer is caused by a lack of oxygen in the cells and that cancer will occur whenever a cell is denied 60% of its oxygen requirements.

We don't have a cure for cancer today but only expensive ineffective treatments. The problem with these is that they deal solely with the symptom of the disease, which is the cancer growth but give scant regard to the all important reason why the disease arrived in the first place. We all know someone who's had their cancer treated medically with seeming success only to find a few months or years later it has returned. The way to become cancer free is through knowledge and education and applying a bit of common sense. When one removes the factors that caused the problem in the first place, the human body with the aid of a healthy immune system has a much greater ability to remove the cancer, slowly and surely and permanently. Isn't that what we are trying to achieve?

We all regard the curing or healing of cancer as a complicated science but the facts are it only requires simple changes. True cures for cancer will only be achieved when a person stimulates their own bodies defence system and there are only natural ways to do that which are easy to carry out.

Alan Wighton is an independent health researcher, having spent many years gaining knowledge, particularly regarding cancer. If you want to learn more on what's going on in the cancer industry, please visit Cancer Facts & Information