The KIMS Cancer Centre-Bhubaneswar observed World Cancer Day on Saturday with the students, doctors, nurses, faculties and staff participating in a walkathon to create awareness on combating the disease.
The state-of-art Centre, which was commissioned about six months ago, observed the occasion for the first time. It is a comprehensive cancer care hospital spread over 7 floors on the KIMS-Bhubaneswar premises, equipped with all advanced technologies and run by a competent medical team.
The walkathon saw overwhelming participation where students from KISS raised cancer slogans to promote cancer awareness such as ‘don’t hide cancer’ and ‘go for treatment and defeat the disease’.
KIMS Cancer Centre is a constituent of KIIT Deemed-to-be-University and KISS is the university with various schools of social sciences.
“People are aware of orthopaedic disease, a disease associated with teeth and gum, but they feel that cancer is like a mystery to them when it is not. World Cancer Day is an occasion when we make people aware of cancer and highlight that cancer is also curable if it is diagnosed on time,” said the Director of the KIMS Cancer Centre and eminent oncologist Prof. Bidhu Kalyan Mohanti.
World over, about 2 crore people are diagnosed with Cancer every year, while 4-5 crore people are living after cancer diagnosis as survivors. In India alone, 14 lakh people annually are diagnosed with the disease.
Dr. Mohanti said removing inequality and providing quality healthcare access to all cancer patients is critical to fighting cancer. The significance of this aspect, he said, is reflected through the theme of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Union Against Cancer ( UICC)for the day which is ‘Close the Care Gap’.
Low and middle-income countries account for 70 per cent of the roughly 10 million deaths reported across the world every year due to lack of access to cancer treatment, said Surgical Oncologist at KIMS Cancer Centre Dr. Saroj Ranjan Sahoo.
“Therefore, we need to remove the inequality. We need to ensure that everyone can get cancer treatment. We all need to know about cancer. Many people are hesitant to accept that they have cancer. Our objective is to ensure people become aware and get early treatment,” he underlined.
The common types of cancer reported in India are lung cancer, stomach cancer and oral cancer. Breast cancer and cervical cancer are common among women. In Odisha, as well, we have encountered a similar trend. But they are easily treatable if diagnosed early, said Dr. Sabyasachi Parida, Surgical Oncologist at the Centre.
Cancer specialists who participated in the walkathon included Dr. Biswajit Bhuyan, Dr. Jogamaya Pattnaik, Dr. Adarsh Yadwad, and Dr. Ushashree Das, Dr. Palash Das, Dr. J Panda, Dr. Mandira Saha Mallik, Dr. Bijayalaxmi Sahoo among others.
Students of Kalinga Institute of Nursing Sciences (KINS) also performed a street play to highlight cancer awareness.