Mumbai : The city on Friday witnessed the formation of the human chain by Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central, supported by Central Railway at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), created to spread awareness about Breast Cancer – the need for early diagnosis and advanced treatment. Breast Cancer awareness drive received a warm welcome by the passers-by at CST railway station thus signifying a ray of hope in the fight against breast cancer.

Wockhardt Hospital believes that this campaign on breast cancer awareness provide’s people with information about the dreaded disease and measures to prevent it. On October 30th participants from Wockhardt Hospital came out in large numbers, wearing their specially designed T-shirts and carrying placards printed with the messages supporting the initiative. The event observed participants associated with Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central giving away informative leaflets on breast cancer, to the passers-by on CST station, briefly describing about the preventive measures and early detection to combat breast cancer. .

“It has been recognized for years that the combination of early diagnosis and effective treatment has resulted in significant improvement in the overall cure rate for patients with breast cancer. Through such awareness campaign, we would like to encourage early testing for quicker diagnosis. Treatment parameters change upon diagnosis, which leads to better prognosis in the long run. Overall, the initiative aims to help people  get the right resources to manage their conditions. With an increased awareness breast cancer can be diagnosed early thus helping the sufferers to achieve better medical outcomes,” said Dr Meghal Sanghvi, Consultant Onco Surgeon at Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai Central.

The incidence of breast cancer in urban India is rising. And recent studies show that incidence of breast cancer has overtaken cervical cancer, cited as the most frequent cancer in Indian women only a decade ago. On an average of one in 28 women in India who develops breast cancer during their lifetime detect the disease at an early stage they have every reason to enjoy a longer life, the five-year survival rate in India being 80 percent. An analysis of cancer rates, conducted by The Indian Council of Medical Research showed that 10 out of every 100,000 women living in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore were diagnosed with breast cancer about 10 years ago, compared with 23 women per every 100,000 today.  Wockhardt Hospital believes that such kind of awareness drive would encourage women to opt for preventive health checkups.

Source : Lokesh Shastri