Ludhiana, May 12
“In the coming years the incidence of breast cancer, which is the most common kind of cancer among women, will grow at a rapid pace in urban India due to increasing trend of women getting married at a late age. It is estimated that in developed countries like the USA, one out of every 10 women, suffers from breast cancer during her life time whereas in India the ratio was 1.30. Currently, Mumbai and Delhi metros are leading in the reported incidence of breast cancer.”

These observations were made by Dr Suresh H. Advani, consultant and head, medical oncology, Jaslok Hospital and senior consultant at Asian Institute of Oncology, Mumbai while delivering a lecture on breast cancer at Dumra auditorium in Dayanand Medical College and Hospital here recently.

He said the only way women could prevent the disease was by maintaining a lifestyle in sync with nature. Just chewing lots of fresh greenies, taking less fat and lots of exercise, getting married at a right age, first child before 25 and maintaining natural lactation would help in reducing the risk.

The event was organised by the Health Education Cell of the DMCH along with Krishna Breast Care Charitable Trust in memory of late Ms Krishna Arora. During his visit to the institution, Dr Advani also provided his consultation to the cancer patients in the OPD of Hero DMC Heart Institute.

While focussing on creating awareness among women about the early detection, of breast cancer, Dr Advani, a padma shree awardee, said that every woman should go for periodic mammography (X-ray of breast) after the age of 40 years and should consult a doctor on detecting a lump in breast during regular self-breast examinations.

Focusing on the new treatment modalities for breast cancer, he revealed that new improved drugs were available in the market, which unlike the traditional medicines, did not affect the whole body but acted on the cancerous tissue only. He emphasised that people should not fear the side-effects of chemotherapy, as these were reversible. In cases needing surgical intervention, instead of removing the whole breast, only the tissue from the affected areas was now removed.

“Cancer is curable if detected earlier. It is a life style disease and the major risk factor is late marriage and having kids at a late age, which cause hormonal disturbances in the body and cancerous growth in breast. Mothers, who are working do not breast feed their children and do not maintain the right lactation period, which aggravates the problems. Urban women because of their busy life style are not in the habit of keeping a check on obesity and consume fatty diet.” He revealed that in trials conducted in cities and villages, it had been found that in comparison to urban women, the incidence of breast cancer was quite low in rural women.

The lecture started with the welcome address by Dr Daljit Singh, Principal. Mr Narinder Pal Singh, SSP, Ludhiana, inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp. Dr J. Whig, Vice-Principal, introduced the distinguished speaker to the audience.

Ludhiana, May 12
To mark the ‘International Thalassaemic Day’, the Department of Transfusion Medicine and Punjab Thalassaemics’ Welfare Society (PTWS) of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) today jointly organised the sixth medicos voluntary blood donation camp on the hospital premises.

The camp received an enthusiastic response as more than 120 consultants, medical students and interns donated blood for thalassaemic children, getting treatment in the thalassemic unit of DMCH.

In an attempt to inspire young medical students, Dr Daljit Singh, Principal, of DMCH was the first to donate blood. He said the efforts of the institution signified selfless service to humanity and such camps would further motivate the medicos to become regular donors for this noble cause.

Dr Amarjit Kaur, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Transfusion Medicine, and Dr Praveen Sobti, in charge, thalassaemic unit of DMCH, who supervised the camp, remarked that the day was observed all over the world to commemorate the death anniversary of George Englesoz of Cyprus, who died at a young age of 26.Despite being a thalassemic , he was an active member of Thalassaemic International Federation and worked tirelessly for the welfare of thalassaemic patients all over the world.

Ludhiana, May 12
Several functions in the city marked International Nurses Day, on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing, here today. On this occasion, the Punjab State Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) held an interactive conference on “Nurses for Patients Safety: Targeting Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines”.

The 22nd Punjab State TNAI Biennial Conference was held at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) here. Dr J.S. Dalal, Director Research and Medical Education, Punjab, was the chief Guest and Ms Surinder Jaspal, Registrar, Punjab Nurses Registration Council, was the guest of honour at the function.

Prof (Ms) Pennamma Ranadive, chairperson, Punjab State Nursing Education Committee and Principal of the College of Nursing, CMCH, delivered the key note address. She said counterfeits made up more than 10 per cent of the global medicines available in the market. According to WHO, one in ten medicines, sold worldwide was fake.

Dr (Ms) Kamaljeet Gill, president, TNAI, Punjab, in her speech said the nurse was one of the most important part of the health team. She also kept forward the demands of the TNAI, which included a separate directorate of nursing, creation of three posts of Deputy Director Nursing (DDN) in three different areas of education, administration and public health.

Dr J.S. Dalal, while addressing the conference, stated that even though nursing had originated to provide care and compassion, the love and care a nurse could give to patients, could not be given by anyone else. He also assured that all their demands would be processed immediately and would be forwarded to the concerned authorities for appropriate action.

A cultural programme by the students of college of nursing was also presented. Over 200 nurses from all over the state attended the conference.

International Nurses Day was celebrated with a lot of fanfare by the nurses of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and its unit Hero DMC Heart Institute (HDHI), in an elaborate function at Dumra Auditorium. The nurses took a pledge for service to the mankind. A colourful cultural function was another attraction of the event.

In her address, Ms Uma Aggarwal, Nursing Superintendent of the DMCH, said nursing was a profession with blending of three factors - art, science and spirit of selfless devotion to the cause of helping the physically or spiritually ill.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr G.S. Wander, Director and chief cardiologist at the HDHI, said it was a matter of great pride that nurses of Punjab were serving in the hospitals all over the world and their demand had grown with the passage of time, which clearly indicated the high quality nursing training in the region.

Paying tributes to Florence Nightingale, Ms Merly Martin, Assistant Nursing Superintendent, focused on the contribution of “the lady with the lamp,” in development of the nursing profession.

In another function, organised by the DMCH Employees Union, the nursing staff of the hospital vowed to improve the nursing care of the patients. Presiding over the function, Ms Rajwant Randhawa, president of the union called upon the nurses to serve the patients with devotion, compassion and dedication.

Ludhiana, May 12
Mr R.S. Behl, honorary secretary, Ludhiana District Badminton Association (LDBA), has refuted the charges of misappropriation of funds levelled by association vice-president, Mohinder Kumar Chopra. In a press note issued here, while dismissing the charges, Mr Behl termed these as vague and baseless.

Mr Chopra had recently sent his resignation from the post of vice-president of the LDBA, accusing the office-bearers of bungling funds collected by the association. In his resignation letter, addressed to Mr Behl, Mr Chopra had alleged that the association collected more than Rs 1,50,000 on the eve of Punjab State Harish Memorial Junior Badminton Championship last year.

It was agreed that a minimum of Rs 50,000 would be given to the family of Harish Chander, a former national champion (junior) who had died in a road accident in Kolkata. He further alleged that on his repeated requests, the association gave only Rs 12,000 to the widow of Harish Chander.

Mr Behl clarified that Mr Chopra’s resignation was the outcome of his frustration as his son Pranav Chopra, national doubles champion (u-13 years) suffered defeat in the district meet. “The office-bearers of the LDBA met Mr Chopra on March 28 and misunderstandings were sorted out following which Mr Chopra withdrew his resignation,” Mr Behl said. No decision was taken to provide any financial assistance to the family of Harish Chander.

Regarding Mr Chopra’s allegations of providing sub-standard shuttle cocks to the trainees at the Shastri Badminton Hall, Mr Behl said the shuttle cocks, used in the state-level tournaments were given to the trainees at the local training centre and Mr Chopra’s accusations were totally baseless and uncalled for.

Ludhiana, May 12
Sarpanch Bachan Singh Cricket Academy recorded 63-run victory over Happy Cricket Academy of Delhi in the first tie of the three-match series, being played at the Balloke village ground, here today.

Batting first, Bachan Singh Academy, in the stipulated 40 overs, made 271 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. The main contributors were Salil Kaushal and Varinder Patwari, who scored 90 and 52 runs, respectively.

In reply, Happy Cricket Academy’s innings folded at 208 runs after 33.3 overs.

Brief scores: Bachan Singh Academy - 271 for 9 ( Salil Kaushal 97, Varinder Patwari 52 and Chinton Sehgal 40; Ajay 3 for 52, Nitish 2 for 58 and Amit 2 for 19).

Happy Cricket Academy - 208 all out ( Amit 57, Ajay 44 and Sridhar 38; Shakun 4 for 40, Nirmal 3 for 35 and Avtar Singh 2 for 31).