GUWAHATI, March 10 - Tata Trusts and Cachar Cancer Hospital in collaboration with Voice of Tobacco Victims and National Cancer Grid will launch a motorbike rally covering all the seven states of the North East from March 12 to 22, where doctors and experts will spread awareness on cancer and its treatment.
A 5-km Cancer Run will be organised in major townships on the route followed by talks by doctors, cancer survivors and other people, including ministers. There will be workshops on cancer research as well as on careers in oncology for medical students and nurses in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Silchar.
The Ride and Run Rally will start from Silchar and traverse through Shillong, Guwahati, Tezpur, Itanagar, Dibrugarh, Kohima, Imphal, Aizawl, Agartala and conclude in Silchar, covering a total distance of over 2,100 km.
Dr Ravi Kannan from Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, said, �Fifty per cent of all cancers and 90 per cent of oral cancers are due to tobacco. The high incidence of cancer in the Northeast prompted doctors to come together for this bike rally to create awareness.�
The aim is to spread messages related to cancer, and by doing so change the perception and behaviour related to the disease.
The riders will interact with people and organizations in small towns, villages and cities across the Northeast, spreading awareness on the risk factors, signs and symptoms of cancer, preventive measures, research and treatment modalities. Ministers, leaders and doctors from the respective states will take part in the events.
Ashima Sarin, director of the Voice of Victims Campaign, said that at each location, doctors and survivors will tell their stories. �Through these stories, we hope to create awareness about cancer and how early detection and treatment is so important.�
As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) in 2009-10 and 2016-17, tobacco consumption has gone up in Manipur, Assam and Tripura. In Manipur, tobacco consumption has increased to 55.1 per cent in GATS-2 from 54.1 per cent in GATS-1.
In Assam, tobacco consumption was 39.3 per cent in GATS-1, which increased to 48.2 per cent, while in Tripura, it has escalated to 64.5 per cent in GATS-2 from 55.9 per cent in GATS-1.
The most common types of cancer are oral, breast and cervical cancer, which are far more lethal in the Northeast compared to the rest of India.
