I am on my way to Jesus and Mary College once again. I am conducting a Breast Health Workshop there for about a hundred students of the non-collegiate education department.
This is my second trip to JMC and it brings back so many memories. My first health awareness talk was delivered ten years ago to the students of JMC on the 13th of December, 2001. I spoke on Menstrual Health.
How do I remember the date so well? Well, there is a story behind it. I was new in Delhi. Had heard that it was an unsafe city but life for me had been pretty safe till that day. After I was done with the talk, I was taken to the canteen for some refreshments but soon enough was asked to leave the college campus. There was panic everywhere...people were rushing home. I took an autorickshaw back home and there were police checking on almost all roads. Roads were clogged. How happy I was to be back home with my little daughter!
That fateful day, the Indian Parliament House was under terrorist attack. It was my first brush with the terror in Delhi and how things fell back to normal after a few hours of commotion. After that I have heard of many terror attacks in Delhi but I guess we have 'got used to it' by now. The fear has never been as great as that particular day in December.
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Friday, November 4, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is the Breast Cancer Awareness month. You may have been hearing and reading a lot about breast cancer already. Do you sometimes feel that you are being overloaded with information about breast cancer? And the pink campaign is all a big farce?
There is a lot of discussion about it worldwide. But back here in India, we still have a long way to go where breast cancer awareness is concerned.
True... breast cancer is not as common here as in the US and Europe (where one in seven women has it). But it is disheartening to read the WHO (World Health Organization) report that less than 5% of Indian women between 50 and 70 years of age underwent a screening mammogram. Even those who underwent a screening mammogram rarely followed it up with another mammogram.
Clinical breast examination is also not something women get on a regular basis. Most women here still consider breast health a taboo topic and are not comfortable getting their breasts examined when they are apparently 'healthy'. Even when they are ready to go for a clinical breast examination they start looking for a female doctor...and it has to be a doctor that she and her family knows well.
There are breast clinics in major cities but very few to cater to the millions of Indian women. Moreover, not too many women walk into breast clinics unless they are continuously stimulated with breast cancer awareness programs and write-ups.
As we talk about breast cancer awareness, I thought of sharing my earlier article on the common myths about breast cancer. Hope you find it helpful.
There is a lot of discussion about it worldwide. But back here in India, we still have a long way to go where breast cancer awareness is concerned.
True... breast cancer is not as common here as in the US and Europe (where one in seven women has it). But it is disheartening to read the WHO (World Health Organization) report that less than 5% of Indian women between 50 and 70 years of age underwent a screening mammogram. Even those who underwent a screening mammogram rarely followed it up with another mammogram.
Clinical breast examination is also not something women get on a regular basis. Most women here still consider breast health a taboo topic and are not comfortable getting their breasts examined when they are apparently 'healthy'. Even when they are ready to go for a clinical breast examination they start looking for a female doctor...and it has to be a doctor that she and her family knows well.
There are breast clinics in major cities but very few to cater to the millions of Indian women. Moreover, not too many women walk into breast clinics unless they are continuously stimulated with breast cancer awareness programs and write-ups.
As we talk about breast cancer awareness, I thought of sharing my earlier article on the common myths about breast cancer. Hope you find it helpful.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
EduSat - Education Initiative by the Indian Govt.
Today's experience at Vigyan Prashar's office was rather different. I am now used to speaking on health related matters to gatherings of hundreds of people. My smallest audience till now was probably a group of seven ladies at a private gathering at a close friend's residence.
The topic was the same...'Breast Self Examination -Why? When? How?' What was different was the audience. I was not seeing my audience who, I am told, were viewing the program in their schools and offices across India. There were schools, colleges and offices in UP, Kashmir, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, etc from where students had logged in to attend the health tutorial. It was strange having to talk into a camera, with not much reaction on the face of the camera person. I was wondering if she really bothered what I was speaking about! But she was prompt to focus on my hands when I demonstrated the examination on the mannequin.
After the lecture, came the questions and it was a nice experience speaking to girls in schools from different states and clearing their queries. A new experience for me altogether.
EduSat, the world's first dedicated satellite for distance education, has made virtual classrooms a revolution in Indian education. Kerala was the first state to start virtual classes through EduSat in 2005. Today, as I spoke, a school in Kashmir was launching its virtual classes with my program.
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