Media Release

Mangaluru, Aug 12: Continuing with their mission of spreading awareness about cancer, the ‘Jewels’ group, in association with the headquarters, Coast Guard District No:3, the Coast Guard Wives Welfare Association, KMC Hospital, Attavar and the Indian cancer society organized a free cancer awareness and screening camp for the officers, staff and the wives of the Coast Guard District No:3, at the Coast Guard District 3 Head Quarters (CG DHQ 3), at the New Mangalore Port, on August 3. This was the 10th such camp organized by the Jewels group.

DIG Praveen Kumar Mishra, commander, Coast Guard District No:3, and a recipient of the prestigious 'Tatrakshak Medal (Gallantry)', and Anuradha Mishra, president, Tatrakshika, were the chief guests.

Addressing the gathering, the chief guest DIG P K Mishra, sharing his own experiences, explained that cancer is a treatable disease and through timely medical check-ups, it is possible to make our society cancer free. He called on the society to give importance to periodic medical examinations.

Dr Sourjya Banerjee, associate professor in the department of comprehensive Cancer Care Centre, KMC, Mangaluru, spoke about the common types of cancer prevalent among men and Dr Nina Mahale, additional professor in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at KMC Mangaluru explained the types of cancer among the women, which was followed by separate Q&A sessions for men and women.

Speaking on behalf of the Jewels group, Stany Lasrado, member, said that the current free cancer awareness and screening camp is the 10th such camp organized by the Jewels group, in association with Father Muller, AJ and KMC Attavar Hospitals and the Indian cancer society, in the past two years. The earlier nine camps were organized in and around Mangaluru for the general public as well as for the officers, staff and families of the Mangalore city police and the staff of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Mangaluru. He further said that, over the eight years of its existence, the Jewels group, through the contribution of its members, has contributed more than Rs 72 lac towards the medical bills of over 150 (mostly cancer) patients, through direct transfer to the hospital accounts.

Dr Govinda Krishna, hosted the programme.

A team of prominent doctors from KMC Hospital, Attavar screened the attendees with various cancer related tests such as head & neck tests, pap smear tests and breast examinations.

The Jewels group, in association with Our Lady of Loretto Church, the health commission, the youth commission and the ICYM Loretto chapter, Fr Muller Medical College Hospital, the Indian cancer society and the Indian Red Cross Blood Bank, Dakshina Kannada, will be organizing its 11th free cancer awareness and screening camp at the Loretto CBSE English Medium School, Loretto, Bantwal, from 08:45 am to 01:30 pm on August 25.