VOICING HOPE

80 percent of the total oral cancer cases of the world happen in India.

With a soaring number of oral cancer cases in India, the country is fighting hard against this menace, making the masses conscious about the hazardous effects of smoking and chewing tobacco. It is believed that India accounts for 80% of all oral cancer cases in the world.

"There are around twenty eight lakh cancer patients in India. The highest number of cases in India is that of oral cancer. It accounts for nearly one third of all cancers in the country," says Dr. Tapaswini Pradhan Sharma, Consultant Surgical Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Center.

A CANCER SURVIVOR – A SAVIOR

SATISH SAHNI Laryngectomy Speech Therapist Age- 54

He was diagnosed with throat cancer 12 years ago and was then operated on. He had his vocal cords removed and subsequently, lost his voice. But, his desire to live and speak again, made him try everything possible to get his voice back. He traveled to Japan to get speech therapy. Satish Sahni is now able to communicate by speaking softly to people. He takes speech therapy classes for those who have lost their voice due to oral cancer. “There are thousands of people like me in India who have lost their voice due to oral cancer. Most of them are poor and cannot go abroad for therapies. That is why I decided to dedicate my life to help oral cancer patients in India", says Satish Sahni. "85 percent of oral cancer in India happens due to consumption of tobacco in any form. Most of the oral cancer patients come from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The reason for this is lack of knowledge, low literacy rate and poverty. I request people to help the government to eradicate this evil from our society. Our teachers, parents and doctors can play a vital role in eradicating this life threatening disease. I request youngsters that you will one day grow old, so you need to start taking care of your health and wealth and stop taking tobacco and alcohol,” he further added.

"The main problem is that youngsters and adolescents because of peer pressure and fascination with macho advertisements of these products start using tobacco. It becomes a habit because of the nicotine content in tobacco which later, is hard to give it up. Most of the victims of oral cancer are aged 35 years and above because of the continuous use of tobacco for long period" says, Dr. Aggarwal.

As per a medical study, it is said that there are more than 300 carcinogens (cancer inducing agents) that have been identified in tobacco smoke.

Dr. Sharma says that there is dire need for an increase in awareness about cancer amongst the general population. "People should be made to realize the potential carcinogenic effect of smoking, tobacco chewing and alcohol. There should be strict laws to ban the companies from promoting products which are potentially hazardous," she said. Even though the government has ordered manufacturers to put a pictorial warning on every tobacco product, this plan has not provided the desired result, as there is an increase in tobacco users, rather than a decline.