HEALTH

‘Cancer Atlas’ within 2 years
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8
Based on data collected from 200 premier medical institutes in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will prepare the first ever ‘Cancer Atlas’ to assess the magnitude and pattern of cancer prevalence in India.

Total number of cancer patients from Punjab, Haryana, HP, J and K, Western UP and Chandigarh treated at the PGI in 2001 - 3824 Head and neck cancer - 919 Gastro-intestinal tract cancer- 776 Gynaecological malignancies - 524 Breast cancer -350 Lung cancer - 150

The project, also supported by WHO, has the PGI and Fortis Hospital, Mohali as partners, so that the data collected from various nodal centres can be subjected to detailed analysis by a panel of experts. The departments at the PGI involved in the project includes Radiotherapy, Histopathology and Cytology.

“Apart from data collected from hospitals, we are seeking help of social workers to gather cancer related figures from the population, as the deaths and births record does not indicate the cause of death,” said Dr Arvind Rajwanshi, head of Cytology and Gynaecological Pathology at the PGI. He informed that while the PGI was mailing its data to the ICMR thrice a week, a number of other hospitals and medical colleges at Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Shimla and Rohtak had also been involved in getting the maximum possible data.

“The final data collected from all over the country will come in handy while channelising resources for early detection and subsequent prevention of cancer,” informed Dr Rajwanshi. He regretted that the biggest problem being faced was that most of the patients were seeking medical help only when the cancer was at an advanced and incurable stage.

Dr Rajwanshi said it was estimated that there were about seven lakh new cancer cases in India every year, while the total number of patients was over two million. While it is cancer of the breast and cervix which affects the maximum number of women, the prevalence of lung and oral cancer was high among male patients. During the year 2001, a total of 3824 new cancer patients had been registered at the PGI.

As per data collected from the region, it has been noticed that while breast cancer was much more common in urban women, their rural counterparts were more commonly afflicted with cervix cancer. Among men cancer of the mouth, lungs and stomach was more common. The highest incidence of tobacco related cancer had been found in Bhopal, stomach cancer amongst males in South India, gall bladder cancer among women in Delhi and breast cancer in women in Mumbai and Delhi.

Those involved with the project feel that since cancer is not a notifiable disease, the project would help in developing a research base to formulate a strategy for cancer control programme. Apart from this, it would be very helpful in planning, monitoring and evaluation under the National Cancer Registry Programme. The project is likely to be completed within the next two years.

SPORTS

Raghav finishes 2nd in Amit Verma Golf
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8
Ten-year-old K. Raghav Bandhari, a student of St John’s High School, finished Ist runner-up in the Amit Verma Memorial Junior/Subjunior Golf Championship held at the Delhi Golf Club.

The tournament for D Category was played on the Peacock course of the Delhi Golf Club. There were a record number of 56 entries and was played under the Indian Golf Union format. The tournament saw a close contest for the first position between Raghav and Viraat Badhwar of Delhi who were tied on the first day but Virat was able to take the lead on the second and third day of the tournament.

Earlier Raghav had participated in the Eagleton Junior/Subjunior Golf Championship held at the Eagleton Golf Resort near Bangalore where he secured the second position, and Southern India Junior/Subjunior Golf Championship at the Bangalore Golf Club where he secured the third position. Both these tournaments were conducted by the Indian Golf Union.

Raghav started learning golf under Mr Jesse Grewal, who has been rated as the best golf coach in the country by the Indian Golf Union for two consecutive years.

Raghav shows considerable promise as a golfer. He already figures at the sixth position in the all India merit list of 10 best golfers in the country prepared by the Indian Golf Union for the year 2002-2003. Going by his performance, his national rating is likely to improve this year.