Rotary Club of Coimbatore Aakruthi, an exclusive women’s Rotary Club kicked off its first free massive Cervical cancer and breast cancer screening camp for the women on Monday (6.9.2021). The women employees of Pricol Engineering Industries Ltd were the first to receive the benefits of this camp. More than 70 women employees of Pricol Industries are set to get examined and benefitted by this initiative.
Rtn. S Rajasekar, DG, RI Dist 3201 and Lakshmi Mohan, Director, Pricol Engineering Industries Ltd inaugurated this camp in the presence of Rtn.Kavitha Gopalakrishnan, President, Rtn.Sapna Chajed, Secretary, RCC Aakruthi and Karthik Purushothaman, Business Head, Pricol Engineering Industries Ltd.
Recent statistics say that 50% of women who are diagnosed with Breast Cancer succumb to it and 60% of Indian women come to doctors at advanced stages. If a screening is done at the right time, women will certainly have knowledge of the cancers and they can surely defend themselves.
Towards that vision, Project HEAL was announced back in Feb 2021, and a State of the art Breast and Cervical Cancer screening van was deployed with the support of major sponsors and Rotary Mettupalayam. Now, with this well-equipped van, RCC Aakruthi has planned to conduct 10 massive camps across Coimbatore to screen and help create awareness and also heal women.
Welcoming the delegates to the program, Rtn. Kavitha said “Cancers threaten the lives of many women in our country. As a Rotary Club that is for women’s development, we have taken this initiative forward. If any woman we have screened in these camps is identified with either of these cancers, treatments at an affordable cost will be provided to them.”
“We hope to touch 700 lives entirely through these 10 camps. At hospitals, they will be charged Rs. 4000 but here it is done free of cost”
Cervical Cancer can easily be tackled if women get vaccinated early since it is caused by a virus. If women at 40s could get a pap smear test done, they can have knowledge of the risks (if present) and certainly be safe from cancer. Rotary Aakruthi is planning to create awareness and also heal women across Coimbatore with this project.
Speaking at the event, Rtn. Rajasekhar said ” if early detection of cancer prevails there won’t be any serious damages to women’s health. This project is aptly named HEAL. HEAL stands for High Awareness, Early Detection, Affordable Treatment and Low Mortality of Breast and Cervical Cancer.”
“If these cancers are found in their first and second stages, they can be managed with much better outcomes. In our society, there is little knowledge about self-testing, women don’t come forward to get tested. I congratulate RCC Aakruthi for planning to organize 10 camps to help women find whether they are at risk of cancer.”
Rtn. Rajasekhar also applauded the immense support rendered by Pricol and KMCH (the medical partner of Project HEAL).
Lakshmi Mohan expressed that she is truly grateful to both KMCH and RCC Aakruthi for bringing this initiative to their women employees, and also conveyed that Pricol will support the activities of Rotary that benefits the public, especially the downtrodden.