Bikers rallying to spread cancer awareness arrives in Imphal
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 19 2018: Altogether 18 bikers and a team of 34 who will cover the seven North East States to spread cancer awareness arrived in Imphal.

The cancer awareness "Beat Cancer: Run and Ride 2018" is jointly organised by Tata Trusts, Cachar Cancer Hospital and Silchar Thumpers Enfield Club, RIMS, Rotary Club, Ruchi, Seva, Phdo in collaboration with the Voice of Tobacco Victims (VoTV), Tata Motors and National Cancer Grid.

It will see a series of events including street plays, sensitization and educational talks as well as stories of cancer patients.

As part of the event, a 5 km run for cancer awareness was conducted in RIMS wherein students, teachers, bikers and volunteers participated.

RIMS Plastic Surgeon Dr Sanjib Nepram said, "Prevalence of cancer is higher in female as compared to males in the North East.

He said that one of the major problems of the country is passive smoking.

He appealed to the youth and organisations to come forward to deal with such issues.

The campaign started from Silchar and proceeded to Shilong, Guwahati Tezpur, Itanagar, Dibrugarh, Kohima, Imphal, Aizwal, Agartala and it will conclude in Silchar on March 22.The riders will cover a total distance of over 2100 kms.

NSS State Coordinator Bimal said, "The North East region with a population of approximately 5 crores sees about 45,000 new cancer cases every year".

Dr Ravi Kannan, Director, Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and VoTV patron, said, "This rally aims at spreading awareness on cancer and the importance of early detection.

People often think cancer is not curable but all cancer deaths do not have to be in agony.

If tobacco was not there, 50% of all cancers and 90% of oral cancers can be prevented, he added.

The riders will interact with people and organisations on the way - at small towns, villages and big cities across the North East States spreading awareness cancer, risk factors, sign and symptoms, its preventive measures, research aspects and treatment modalities.

Director of Voice of Tobacco Victims Ashima Sarin said, "If we eliminate tobacco, 50 percent of all cancers can be prevented.

If anti-tobacco laws are enforced and all educational institutes are made tobacco free, we will be able to prevent our future generations." Dr Sanjib Singh informed that as per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) done in in 2009-10 (GATS-1) and 2016-17 (GATS-2), tobacco consumption has gone up in Manipur, Assam and Tripura.

In Manipur, the tobacco consumption has increased to 5 5.1 percent in GATS-2 from 54.1 percent in GATS-1.In Assam, tobacco consumption was 39.3 percent in GATS-1 which increased to 48.2 percent and in Tripura, it has escalated to 64.5 percent in GATS-2 from 55.9 percent in GATS-1 .

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