Over four lakh people invited for cancer screening in three months: DPH

CHENNAI: As part of the organised cancer screening programme, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has invited more than 4.2 lakh people for cancer screening in the last three months.

As part of the cancer screening, all individuals above the age of 30 years are being invited for the screening. The state health department aims at making it a routine annual check up for all individuals. The project has been launched in the four districts of Tamil Nadu including Erode, Ranipet, Thirupathur and Kanniyakumari for the screening of all individuals aged 30 and above.

Of the 59,571 women screened for breast cancer as part of the screening programme, as many as 1,185 women have been suspected to have symptoms of breast cancer and they will further undergo diagnosis and treatment. A total of 44,284 women have been screened for cervical cancer and 2,129 of them are suspected of the same. As many as 67161 people were screened for oral cancer and about 500 of them are suspected to have symptoms of oral cancer and will undergo further testing.

Talking about the initiative, the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Dr T S Selvavinayagam said that cancer not only poses a threat to life but it poses a huge financial burden, productivity loss and there is a need of palliative care.

"Most of the times, the lives are lost due to cancer because of the late diagnosis. The cancer is only detected in many individuals at the later stage since there is no screening or observation of symptoms. We aim to bring close that gap, by providing regular screening to those who are at an increased risk of cancer. The screening is being done by inviting people to get themselves checked, get tested and treated. Cancer is curable but late diagnosis poses a challenge," says Dr Selvavinayagam.