Cancer Alleviation Foundation (CALF), Save Our Daughters India (SODI), Abdul Kalam International Foundation (AKIF) and Paterson Cancer Centre (PCC) are jointly organising a cancer awareness and detection camp in the island as per the wishes of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
CALF and the PCC, which had been organising such camps in Chennai since 2007, started the three-day camp at the hometown of Kalam on Wednesday, involving SODI and AKIF, S. Ramesh, coordinator, CALF, said.
After Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan inaugurated the screening camp, 110 people, including 40 women, above 40 years of age were screened for various types of cancers, heart diseases, tuberculosis and hypertension. It was a free camp and the tests were also conducted free of cost, he said.
In Pamban
About 120 people, including 70 women, were screened for different types of cancers at a camp organised at Thangachimadam on Thursday, he said, adding a similar camp would be organised in Pamban on Friday for the benefit of fisherfolk and general public.
Samples collected at the camps were being sent to a laboratory in Chennai for analysis, and after obtaining the results, the organisers would initiate follow-up action by conducting monthly camps with a set of doctors, Mr. Ramesh and camp organiser Dr. S.V.S. Bala said.
S. Vijayaraghavan, eminent oncologist and a close associate of Kalam, screened the people with the help of about 12 doctors from Chennai, Madurai and Ramanathapuram, and 20 paramedical staff and technicians, they said.
Two detected
Of the 110 people screened in Rameswaram, two were detected for oral cavity cancer, four for suspected breast glands and one each for defective heart valve, tuberculosis and hypertension, they said.
Those who required further treatment and follow-up care were advised to visit Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC) in Madurai or the PCC in Chennai.
The treatment would be free in the PCC, while a nominal amount would be charged in the MMHRC, they said.
