Tata hospital brings cancer screening to doorstep
The Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) flagged off its mobile outreach programme in Trombay on Monday. The five-year programme funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will screen women for breast, cervical and oral cancers. The diagnosed patients will be treated at Tata hospital free of cost.
The programme was inaugurated by chairman of DAE Dr Srikumar Banerjee and director of TMH Dr R A Badwe. The initiative will cover a population of 1,20,000 women from Mankhurd, PNGP colony, Maharashtra Nagar, Patlipada and Mandala.
Though the programme is primarily for women, mens support is mandatory to ensure they come for screenings and see the treatment advice is followed,said Dr Banerjee.
Dr Badwe stressed on getting used to the idea of cancer screening. These days patients are not scared of diabetes or hypertension. We must ensure that the fear of cancer is dissolved. Around 60 per cent of all cancers affecting women can be detected in an early stage and treated successfully,he said.
We first involved local leaders corporators and women representatives from these villages and conducted a door-to-door survey to enumerate the number of women between 30 and 65 years of age. Then every house has been given a code, which has been stamped on their door,said Dr Gauravi Mishra, consultant, preventive oncology, Tata Hospital.
Two medical officers will be posted at the village, and five women from the villages, who have passed SSC, have been given a three-month training by TMH to assist them, as primary healthcare workers.
We will be conducting inspections using acetic acid and Lugols iodine for cervical cancer, and clinical breast examinations,said Dr Mishra. The bus that will transport staff in these shanty colonies has been donated by Womens Cancer Initiative, an NGO.