Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Evolving Mindsets! Fight Against Cervical Cancer

We have all grown up with fairy tales, with happy endings, dreamily ensconced in our own little worlds of make believe. Yet real life’s never far away to deal a cruel blow to our dreams.

Yet the dreams appear to have triumphed over reality—a reality of people dying of deadly ailments like cancer and heart disease—as we continue to live in self denial, continuing to ignore our health and our lives on life’s pecking order of priorities. Why oh why?

Isn’t it time we woke up, stopped dreaming and took some action? Isn’t it time that we prioritized our health. It’s our life after all!!

In a world dominated by science and technology, where everything is possible, the only thing required is the will to fight, to step out of our dreams a while.

That’s what I learnt when I saw someone I knew fighting her own battle against cancer. But that’s the operative word here: fighting. You’ve got to fight it; you’ve got to have the will to fight!

It’s a painful journey; from losing hair to strong medication making life itself a living hell, when close friends can sympathize and at times even treat you like a pariah, to be shunned and treated like an outcast, the agony can be endless. Yet, you’ve got to resist, fight it all the way. That is the only way.

Cancer, significantly cervical cancer, today is spreading its tentacles far and wide, unchecked, insidious, and uncontrollable.

It’s a genuine call to all those who take their life callously, have multiple sexual partners and lead a generally unhygienic personal life. You’ve got to change because it can prove fatal, for your life.

Get yourself tested from time to time; a mere 10 minutes will make a big difference. If detected early cancer can be cured. Life as they say is not about the amount of breaths taken, but more about the moments which take your breath away.

It’s time to live your life well for those very special moments. It’s time to break the silence and spread the word – FIGHT AGAINST CERVICAL CANCER. Get going!

Contributed by: Vandita Sheoran, New Delhi

Monday, January 11, 2010

Cheers to our Youth!

Dangers caused by various ailments can be prevented provided an individual takes her own responsibility by taking certain screening tests, taking preventive medication as and when required and most important of all leading a healthy lifestyle. Dangerous ailments like heart attacks, osteoporosis, cervical cancer, diabetes this list can go on but taken the right step can be prevented by taking precautionary measure.

Though many women are aware of various diseases but most share the common belief that they somehow cannot suffer from it. Indian psyche is such that one visits a doctor only when an individual falls sick. Even with all the modernization we still do not see the importance of visiting a doctor without any kind of ailment. Such a mindset is a common problem that plagues most Indian women and is probably the reason that India accounts for the largest number of cases of cervical cancer. As per WHO India accounts for 1.32 lakh detection of cervical cancer every year.

So ladies think when you last visited a doctor for a regular check up so buck up and visit your doctor now!! Girls its time you realize the importance…………

Contributed by: Sashi Ghising, New Delhi

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Cervical Cancer: Awareness starts at Home

Dangers caused by various ailments can be prevented provided an individual takes her own responsibility by taking certain screening tests, taking preventive medication as and when required and most important of all leading a healthy lifestyle. Dangerous ailments like heart attacks, osteoporosis, cervical cancer, diabetes this list can go on but taken the right step can be prevented by taking precautionary measure.

Though many women are aware of various diseases but most share the common belief that they somehow cannot suffer from it. Indian psyche is such that one visits a doctor only when an individual falls sick. Even with all the modernization we still do not see the importance of visiting a doctor without any kind of ailment. Such a mindset is a common problem that plagues most Indian women and is probably the reason that India accounts for the largest number of cases of cervical cancer. As per WHO India accounts for 1.32 lakh detection of cervical cancer every year.

So ladies think when you last visited a doctor for a regular check up so buck up and visit your doctor now!! Girls its time you realize the importance…………

Contributed by: Sashi Ghising, New Delhi

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Women at the grassroots level!! A perspective

As part of the FACC initiative, I recently attended a seminar organized by an NGO. The seminar involved participants from Bihar Gujarat, Rajasthan, U.P. etc. and was targeted at educating the representatives about sex- related issues faced by women in their respective regions. Ultimately it is these representatives who carry out simple examinations of the women in their region and apprise them about the basic hygiene elements to be observed and the precautions to be taken so as to ensure that all abnormalities are detected well in advance and appropriate medical treatment is administered.

The revelations at the seminar were indeed shocking. Women in rural India are quite ill informed about the importance of maintaining proper hygiene. Did you know, basic stuff such as the use of sanitary napkins during periods is most uncommon among women in rural India? Let alone use sanitary napkins, the women in question do not even use a clean and sterilized cloth. Given these facts, the high incidence of diseases such as cervical cancer etc. does not come as a surprise.

The fact is further explained by the risk factors that are found in abundance in rural India. Factors such as early onset of sexual intercourse and promiscuity, both of which are quite prevalent in rural India, make the women in these areas extremely prone to developing cervical cancer.

Sporadic programs have been initiated by individual states in India to address the issue of cervical cancer; however it just isn’t sufficient. Contributing one-fourth the total incidence of cervical cancer in the world, India definitely needs to formulate a nation wide focused campaign to combat this deadly disease.

Contributed by: Akshay Joshi, New Delhi