The tribespeople in Mankulam area in Idukki district are prone to oral cancer on account of high use of tobacco, according to K. George Varghese, principal of the Government Dental College here.
According to him, an oral cancer detection and dental health camp conducted by volunteers from the Government Dental College, exclusively for the residents of the 13 tribal colonies in Mankulam last week, revealed that more than 25 per cent of the people who attended the camp had oral pre-cancerous condition.
“We suspect at least two of them have oral cancer,” he said.
Out of the 200 persons who attended the camp, 55 had pre-cancerous condition, Dr. Varghese said, and added that it could be directly linked to the high use of tobacco.
He said the department was in the process of designing follow-up programmes for the residents of the tribal colonies with the active involvement of other agencies functioning in the area.
The high incidence of tobacco use was brought to the attention of the department by the officials of Integrated Tribal Development Project.
Following this, doctors from the social dental health department and oral surgery department at the Dental College, along with students, conducted the camp on May 14 and 15, Dr. Varghese said.
