Marengo CIMS Hospital commemorates International Women’s Day with cancer awareness

Ahmedabad :  To mark International Women’s Day, K K Patel Hospital in Bhuj and Marengo CIMS Hospital collaborated to host a Town Hall talk focused on raising awareness of cancers affecting women. One thousand young women of varying ages and backgrounds made up the audience. Students (13–20 years old), adults (21–40 years old), health professionals (physicians, pharmacists, physiotherapists), and children (13–20 years old) all participated. The doctors gave out 25,000 sanitary napkins and gave talks about the importance of maintaining good hygiene and a healthy lifestyle in the fight against diseases that have historically contributed to high mortality rates. Dr. Anagha Zope, a Breast Cancer Surgeon at Marengo CIMS Hospital, and Dr. Mona Shah, a Gynecology Onco-Surgeon at Marengo CIMS Hospital, hosted the show.

Cancers of the breast and cervix are a major health problem that is gaining national attention. There are still barriers to early screening that include socioeconomic status, a lack of screening, a lack of awareness, and associated stigma and taboos. Menstrual hygiene, cervical cancer in women, breast cancer, preventing cancer, lifestyle conditions that contribute to cancer, vaccines for cervical cancer, early detection, and early treatment were all topics covered in this interactive talk.

The talk was given by Dr. Anagha Zope, a breast cancer surgeon at Marengo CIMS Hospital, with the goal of encouraging young women to make healthier choices that will lower their personal risk of developing breast and cervical cancers. In our pluralistic society, women have access to information, but much of it lacks credibility because it hasn’t been verified. Because of this, they are unable to make the correct choices. Extremely high rates of breast cancer are currently being seen in India. Instances have been at an all-time high in the west, too. What sets the western population apart from the Indian population is that while breast cancer deaths are declining in the west, they are increasing in India. Merely raising awareness is not enough. Most importantly, we must take the right measures to detect the illness at an early stage in women, reduce mortality rates, and control the spread of the disease. The event was successful and influential because it got the young women in the audience thinking about personal cleanliness, health, and the social implications of their actions.

Dr Mona Shah, Gynaecology Onco-Surgeon, Marengo CIMS Hospital says, “The highly interactive town hall talk yielded a good understanding of cancers in women. But India still has a long way to go in surmounting challenges such as the size of the population, penetration in rural areas to create increased awareness, mindsets to surmount shame and hesitation of going to doctors, and self-examination as an educated exercise. With Oncologists taking up the responsibility of community outreach and educating the more proactive younger population, we are confident of bringing fatalities down.”

Dr Keyur Parikh, Chairman – Marengo CIMS Hospital says, “The hospital is taking up newer initiatives to spread awareness in a sustained one on various diseases. Cancers in women have been on the rise and through activities like the Town Hall, we are very happy to have reached out to a significant number of women to educate them. Information that is unauthenticated may not have the necessary impact on the minds of the young. However, when you have experts and specialists educating on urgent matters it has become in the current times, the mind is quick to learn.”

According to the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) estimates, there were 19.3 million incident cancer cases worldwide for the year 2020. India ranked third after China and the United States of America. it is further predicted that cancer cases in India would increase to 2.08 million, accounting for a rise of 57.5 percent in 2040 from 2020.  Breast cancer has risen by 13.5 % and cervical cancer by 9.4% in the year 2020. Among all cancers, breast and cervical cancers are in third and fourth positions and the top two cancers in women. It would require meticulous planning, monitoring, and evaluation of cancer control activities to win over cancer in any region.