A bike rally to create cancer awareness will be launched by TATA Trusts and Cachar Cancer Hospital in collaboration with Voice of Tobacco Victims and National Cancer Grid from March 12. The rally will start from Silchar.
The 11-day rally will cover seven states of the Northeast, where doctors and experts will also spread awareness about it’s treatment.
A five km Cancer Run will be organized in major towns on the route followed by talks from doctors, cancer survivors, including ministers etc.
There will be workshops on cancer research as well as on careers in oncology for medical students and nurses in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Silchar.
The Ride and Run Rally will start from Silchar and continue through Shillong, Guwahati, Tezpur, Itanagar, Dibrugarh, Kohima, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala and conclude in Silchar, covering a total distance of over 2,100 km.
Dr Ravi Kannan from Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, said, “Fifty per cent of all cancers and 90 per cent of oral cancers are due to tobacco. The high incidence of cancer in the Northeast prompted doctors to come together for this bike rally to create awareness.”
The riders will interact with people and organizations in small towns, villages and cities across the Northeast, spreading awareness on the risk factors, signs and symptoms of cancer, preventive measures, research and treatment modalities. Ministers, leaders and doctors from the respective states will take part in the events.
Ashima Sarin, director of the Voice of Victims Campaign, said that at each location, doctors and survivors will tell their stories. “Through these stories, we hope to create awareness about cancer and how early detection and treatment is so important.”
The most common types of cancer are oral, breast and cervical cancer, which are far more lethal in the Northeast compared to the rest of India.