In Bangladesh, breast and cervical cancer claim the lives of several women every year. Additionally, long-term patients have significant financial losses.
In this perspective, on September 15, 2023, Alo Bhubon Trust and Rotary Club of Dhaka Dhrubo Tara jointly organized a ‘‘Health awareness program on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD): Cervical and Breast Cancer’’ at the Rahima Baniz Healthcare Center (RBHC), A project of Alo Bhubon Trust (Alo-BT) in Ikarkuri, Boalia, Naogaon. Over 200 people, mostly women of different ages attended the program.
The chief guest in the program was Rotarian Roshan Ara Akhtar (Chartered President, Rotary Club of Dhaka Dhruva Tara) and the special former president of OGSB of Dhaka and the architect of Via and Colposcopy Department of the hospital, Rotarian Professor Dr. Latifa Shamsuddin (MBBS, FCPS (OBGYN-BD), FCPS (OBGYN-PK), FICS (USA), Gynecologist and Obstetrician and Surgeon, Former Professor and Chairman, (Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.
There also present Rtn Farzana Hasan Dina, Rtn Aneela Majid, Rtn Sonia Razzaque, Dr. Shahiduzzaman, Rtn Abdur Rahman Rizvi, Abdullah Almas Bin Rahman Tanveer and Officers and employees of Alo-BT and RBHC.
The program was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Hasin Anupama Azhari General Secretary, Alo-BT. She said, every year in Bangladesh 7 thousand die of cervical cancer and 5 thousand die of breast cancer. About 21 thousand are affected by these two cancers annually.
The special guest Rtn Prof Latifa Shamsuddin emphasized the importance of preventing cancer by discouraging child marriage and promoting mother’s health and family care.
Rtn Aneela Majid highlighted that children aged between 9-15 should receive HPV vaccines, and their families should be made aware of this.
The chief guest Rtn Raushan Ara Akhtar greatly appreciated the attendance of women of various ages and encouraged the organizers to arrange similar events in the future. Various informative talks, discussions, and interactive question answer sessions were conducted with the participants and the special guest.
The main focus of the program was to educate the rural women of Naogaon district, to increase awareness about the prevention and early detection about the rising incidence and unrecognized hazards of cervical and breast cancer and also to align the SDG goal-3 as well as the goal strategy of WHO by the year of 2030.
