In the wake of increased incidence of breast cancer in the country, city-based Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation has released an app to provide information under one roof.
Launched by Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan in Mumbai last week, the app – ‘ABC of Breast Health’ – will provide information in 12 languages. Uploaded on March 14, the app provides textual information from Breast Cancercare UK, the U.K.’s largest healthcare breast cancer charity and the foundation, along with images and guidelines on determining breast health, accompanied by images and scans of breast problems.
P. Raghu Ram, CEO of the foundation, said the app provides information that has been tested for its communicative efficacy in the field both in the U.K. and in India.
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“The objective is to create awareness without evoking fear. The app also fills the gap for counselling the concerned well with benign conditions, given that patients have just about four minutes to spend with doctors in the present-day consulting situations,” Dr. Raghu Ram said.
Mr. Bachchan is a known personality in the government’s health campaigns, including polio and tuberculosis. Given this, Dr. Raghu Ram said the app was also a contribution to the Digital India campaign that was vigorously being promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The foundation has been carrying out Pink Ribbon walks in the city to create awareness about rising incidence of breast cancer, particularly among young women.
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The app also provides information on genetic risks of breast cancer which has been a topic of discussion in the recent years and lifestyle guidelines that can help lower the risk. It also touches upon benign breast issues of both men and women, including pain and gynecomastia, one of the least discussed subjects pertaining to male breast health.