Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Will I Be The Next?

Do I have it? Do I need to get it checked? Is it going to be painful? How and whom should I contact? These are few of the questions that have been driving me crazy. Not only me, but there are thousands of such women awaiting answer to these questions, struggling to make a better and a healthy future. In India, every 8 minutes a women dies because of cervical cancer.

According to Indian statistics, Cervical Cancer is the second most prevalent type of cancer among women. Lack of awareness, multiple sexual partners and unhygienic living conditions are mainly attributed for the rise of the disease which causes the largest number of deaths among women, approximately 74,000 deaths are reported every year in India. Women in India have a laid back attitude when it comes to regular health check-ups, especially when they are over 35 years, with little or no education.

Every time I feel some pain in my body, in the pelvic or the bladder region, my first thought is – Hope this is not Cancer? Every day thousands of women are losing their lives to Breast Cancer, AIDS and Cervical Cancer; these diseases intrude your body without showing any sign. How can I possibly protect myself from getting these diseases? For a medical condition like Cervical cancer, the best way, is to get a Pap smear screening done. Pap smear screening is probably the single most important preventative measure that a woman can take to prevent the development of cervical cancer. Since its introduction over 50 years ago, the Pap test has been the single, greatest contributor to the decline in cervical cancer.

Every day we spend so much money on ourselves to stay alive, but what are we doing with this chance? When we can spend 1000 Rs for an evening out then why do we sham away when it comes to getting health check-ups done? A mere 400-800 Rs can save our lives. It’s time that we realize the danger of this dreadful disease, don’t be ignorant, learn about it and discuss it with your friends and family. Remember, Cervical Cancer is not a contagious disease; early detection can save your life. So let’s join hands to stop this evil from spreading, let’s FIGHT AGAINST CERVICAL CANCER.

Contributed by: Vandita Sheoran, New Delhi

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