People, not cancer, lead the way to good health

Ministers, film-makers and actors joined in to support cancer patients on Sunday a day after World Cancer Day.

They walked along with students, corporate executives, cancer survivors and medical professionals at the fifth annual ‘walk for life’ organised by NGO CanSupport, that works for cancer patients.

Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged off the walk in the morning which began from Rajpath. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Jeannie Mulford wife of the former US Ambassador to India, senior executive of Max India , Analjit Singh and Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat, film-maker Mira Nair, actors Sharmila Tagore and Rahul Bose, designer Ritu Kumar and sportsperson Krishna Poonia joined in the initiative.

High cancer estimates
In India, cancer has become one of the four leading causes of death. Estimates from the Cancer Registry Programme of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed that there are nearly 25 lakh cancer cases in the country at any given point of time, while 7-9 lakh new cases occur annually. The age of incidence is between 35-64 years.

Delhi has the highest prevalence rate in India of about 140 cancer cases per 1,00,000 population. There are currently 2,00,000 people in Delhi with cancer with 10,000 new cases every year.

“The walk is a yearly event with over 2,000 people joining it to show they care and to support the work of the organisation,” said a member of CanSupport, Harmala Gupta, who is also the founder and president of CanSupport.

Gupta, a cancer survivor herself, believes that palliative care is a neglected field in India, with the focus of government and private hospitals being on treatments that are neither appropriate nor affordable.

Late detection
“Unlike the west, where survivorship figures for cancer are on the rise, in India unfortunately the majority of those diagnosed become aware of their condition when the cancer has already spread and cure becomes difficult”, said Gupta.

The walk is intended to raise funds for cancer patients, create awareness about how to reduce the risk of cancer and detect it early.

It also honours the memory of those who have succumbed to the disease.