Biocon has announced the launch of ‘Free Oral Screening Camps’ across 23 cities in the country. The campaign is intended to screen people for Oral Cancer and create awareness about the disease.
This week-long campaign to be held between September 1-7, 2014 was launched by Karnataka health and family welfare U T Khader. Praveen Bose, Sr Director & Head, Biocon Oncotherapeutics was also present at the event.
Oncologists and nurses will conduct oral screening across Bengaluru, Mangalore, Hubli, Coimbatore, Kankanady, Hissar, Mohali, Nashik, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Patna, Kochi, Jaipur, Indore, Bhopal, Cuttack, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jalandhar and Aurangabad.
The company has also been addressing the problem of cancer in the country through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) interventions aimed at early detection of cervical cancer and oral cancer among marginalised communities and their management in secondary and tertiary stages.
It has several anti-cancer therapies in this life-threatening segment including the BioMAb EGFR and CANMAb the world’s first follow-on biologic to treat HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
Oral cancer accounts for 30 per cent of all cancers in India, with about 77,000 new cases being diagnosed annually It has an overall 52 per cent survival rate after five years, but when detected early the rate increases to above 80 per cent. (Tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption contribute to 90 per cent of oral cancers, awareness about the risk factors can go a long way in helping prevent the disease.
According to health minister Khader, oral cancer is one of the top three cancers in India and can be cured only if identified at an early stage. Due to lack of awareness and limited technology, most of the cases are diagnosed very late leading to poor treatment outcomes. This initiative from Biocon will not only help screen the masses for oral cancer but will also create much needed awareness required for the disease. We look forward to supporting more such campaigns from corporate citizens for the larger good of the people.”
“Through this initiative we hope to educate a large number of Indians on the risk factors associated with this killer disease and encourage them to get regular oral screening by qualified doctors, as a means of early cancer detection, that can lead to better treatment outcome,” said Shukrit Chimote, vice president & Head- Branded Formulations, India