Athens, Feb 4 (IANS): Greece has observed World Cancer Day with a series of events aimed to raise awareness and help in the prevention of the disease and support of patients.

The motto of the day, observed on Saturday, was: "We change to live" was projected onto the Greek Parliament building which was lit up, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It is the moral obligation of the State and all relevant authorities to do everything possible, not just to limit the instances of cancer, but to render it a simple chronic illness," Deputy Speaker of parliament Marios Georgiades said in a statement for the initiative.

In front of the parliament, volunteers of the Greek Cancer Society were handing out informative leaflets, holding banners with slogans such as "I can. We can".

Others held small lanterns in the memory of people who lost their lives to cancer, as they reminded passers-by not to miss their checkups and adopt a healthy life style.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of the most common types of the disease can be prevented.

The World Cancer Day, which falls on February 4 every year, is an annual global event to raise awareness and help people battling cancer and their families.

In Greece, cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths, while more than 40,000 new cases reported on an annual basis on average in recent years, according to a press statement on the occasion of the day by Evangelos Filopoulos, President of the Greek Cancer Society.