Team Herald
PANJIM: Cancer specialists opined that breast, oral and cervical cancers are curable, if the same is detected at an early stage.
Stating this, Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, Cancer Surgeon at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, said, “Most of the cases are detected only at the last stage where cure is not possible.” Emphasising on the need for early detection, Chaturvedi said, “One of the reasons for late detection is that doctors are not aware of the early signs of cancer.”
Stating that Goa is amongst the states with the lowest prevalence of tobacco cancer, he said that to make Goa a tobacco-free state all the agencies have to come together. The “Government can do it, as it has the money and manpower and along with Goa Cancer Society it is possible,” he added.
Chaturvedi opined that urbanisation and unhealthy lifestyle are major reasons for the increasing number of cancer cases. “Two-thirds of all cancer cases in India and Goa are related to lifestyle issues,” he said.
Pointing out that tobacco contributes to 50 percent of all the cancer diseases, he said that the other major contributors are alcohol, arecanut and obesity.
Demanding government intervention in promoting better lifestyle, he cited the example of Kerala, where the government levied additional fat tax on fatty foods and fast foods.
Dr Shekhar Salkar, Joint Secretary of Goa Cancer Society (GCS), said the society has targeted to complete screening of all the people in the target group by December 2018. He said, “Around 5 lakh of the state population is the target group which includes women above the age of 30 years and all those who intake some sort of tobacco.”
