India observes World Cancer Day

Austin Globe (ANI) Sunday 5th February, 2012

World Cancer Day was observed in India on Saturday, and saw the participation of cancer patients and locals in different events aimed at spreading a message of fighting against the deadly disease and to promote the undying spirit of life.

In Kolkata, the D S Research Centre organised a rally to spread awareness about the disease and its treatment.

Cancer patients, students, youngsters and elderly people from the city took part in the rally.

Suparna Dasgupta, one of the organizers of the event, said the though cancer cannot be eradicated, but a more knowledge about the disease would help in combatting it.

"On one very particular day, we cannot eradicate the cancer. We cannot say that we can cure the cancer patients. But you can also see that few of our cancer patients were also there to walk with us. The only intention is to spread the notion that we can save the world from cancer, if we are ourselves very much restricted, disciplined and all," said Dasgupta.

Likewise, in the spirit of the World Cancer Day, women cancer patients participated in a personality competition organised in Nagpur city of western Maharashtra state.

Women between the age group of 24 to 60 years chipped in the event to spread the message of putting up a fight against cancer instead of being scared about it.

Another organiser Suchitra Mehta said cancer patients braved all odds to be part of the show.

"All the participants are cancer patients out of which two or three are such who underwent chemo therapy yesterday or day before yesterday and they took the injection and today they walked on the ramp. Three and four patients are such who do not have hair, but they wore a wig and with this personality contest, we are trying to tell that after being detected of cancer, one shouldn't lose hope and one can lead a normal life as before," said Mehta.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, the country's apex biomedical research body, cancer is spreading at an alarming rate in India and currently more than 2500000 people are suffering from this deadly disease.

Thousands of people are diagnosed with some form of cancer every year and it is an extremely challenging task to save their lives. (ANI)