Agra to be made breast cancer-free zone

Every seven minutes a new case of breast cancer is detected in India. One in 21 Indian women are afflicted. Now, through early detection and prompt treatment, the NGO Women Wellness Worldwide (WWW) is determined to free the city of the Taj Mahal of breast cancer by 2020.

"India is sitting on a silent breast cancer bomb. The cases are multiplying in the urban population. In 2009 the breast cancer burden would be 125,000 new cases," WWW's spokesperson and well known gynaecologist Shivani Chaturvedi told IANS.

"Sadly there are no well-defined risk factors in most cases and there is no vaccine to prevent it. Therefore early detection seems to be the only cure right now.

"Being spokesperson for women wellness worldwide, I can say that we are committing to tackling this disease through spreading awareness for early detection and also by prompt surgery for proven cases."

Chaturvedi said the surgery would be completely free for poor patients. "The dream and the challenges are big but our vision 2020 is to make the Taj city a breast cancer-free zone."

An effort is being made to rope in hundreds of voluntary agencies in the city to spread awareness and help in early detection.

While launching the new device Breastlight produced by Nashik Valley Cosmeceuticals, renowned homeopath R.S. Pareek said here this week: "Educating women regarding early detection facilities available in the city and also sensitising them to the dangers inherent in the so-called modern life styles would go a long way in reducing the incidence of the disease."

Oncologist Narendra Deo said the incidence was increasing every year due to "new lifestyles, unmarried girls, nuns, spinsters, and women shying away from breast feeding".

(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in)

Last updated on Nov 5^th, 2009 at 08:59 am IST--IANS