Chandigarh: Cancer awareness rally carried out by PGIMER students

Chandigarh: The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Institute’s (PGIMER), students staged a rally on Novermber 5 to generate awareness on cancer among common people. The rally was staged to celebrate the National Cancer Awareness Day, which was on November 7.

The undergraduate students of the department from PGIMER have conducted such awareness drives earlier as well. “The intention of our rally was to make people aware about different stages of cancer and how they can fight it if they take right measures at the right time,”said Amit K. Dubey, a student of Radiation Therapy and Oncology .

A group of 30 students this year took to the streets and spread awareness about cancer through street dance and Q & A. “We discussed about lung and oral cancer in our rally and carried a crab shaped puppet,” said Amit.

The PGIMER also runs Asha Jyoti, a unique mobile women’s health outreach program which provides screening services such as X-ray, ultrasound and mammography to rural women with no access to such healthcare facilities. Some of them are further sent to the

PGIMER as referrals for treatment.The Asha Jyoti programe is run in partnership with the RAD-AID International.

On being asked why the students chose Nov 5 instead of Nov 7 to generate awareness about cancer, Amit said, ““On Saturday we get a half day in college, so we decided to go for the awareness on November 5. Besides spreading awareness doesn’t need any particular day, it should be a regular affair.”