For those worried about the rising incidence of cancer among rural women, here’s some good news on the occasion of the ‘International Women’s Day’.
In a novel initiative, the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) has tied up with the Rotary Club of Tirupati to ply a vehicle to the remote villages of Rayalaseema to screen the women for breast, oral and cervical cancer. The objective is to reduce incidence of cancer in the region. For early detection and timely intervention, the SVIMS decided to ply the state-of-the-art vehicle fitted with mammography equipment to the villages and screen the women, especially those the Below Poverty Line (BPL).
Specialist review
As the name suggests, the ‘Pink Bus’ will have a custom-designed pink chassis, with a mammogram, examination tables for screening of cervix and oral cancer, lab equipment for conducting blood test, blood pressure etc., besides the apparatus for providing counselling to the women.
It will have wireless connectivity and tele-medicine system to offer specialist review and remote consultation.
“The idea is to reach out in phases to the 1.8 million population in and around Tirupati initially, then the 4 million in Chittoor district and finally the 15 million women of Rayalaseema districts,” SVIMS Director and Vice-Chancellor T.S. Ravi Kumar told The Hindu.
The SVIMS offers manpower support through its doctors, nurses, medical students and supporting staff for the basic intervention. The medical, nursing and physiotherapy students will visit the villages in the allotted clusters to monitor the health status on continuous basis. “Our 1,000 students will act as soldiers in the mammoth task,” Dr. Ravi Kumar added.
Funding pattern
The Rotary Club is raising funds for the ₹1.15-crore project, while it will don a bigger role of creating public awareness in the villages by acting as the ‘messaging partner’. It will raise one-third funds, while the remaining is expected to be met by the Rotary Foundation Trust and foreign partners through the District Governor.
“With 4,000 Rotarians across Rayalaseema, pooling up our share of ₹42 lakh will not be a problem,” says a confident C. Balagurappa, President, Rotary Club of Tirupati.
On its part, the SVIMS has approached the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) and is also planning to tap funds from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), TTD and the Balaji Arogya Varaprasadini scheme.
