The New Nation - Internet Edition

DEADLY disease, cancer, has been spreading fast, particularly in recent years. Lack of awareness about the disease appears to be the major factor contributing to late diagnosis of the disease. Inadequacy of balanced diet and the practice of taking betel leaf with 'zarda' flavoured tobacco that is chewed are some of the factors that a believed to contribute to the growth of cancer cells in the body. As a result cancer disease incidence has increased to as many as four million in Bangladesh. The figure of patients may increase in coming years with negative effects on life and living of people at large.

A distinguished professor of Ecology, in course of his presentation of a paper on the subject, at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, stated the other day that some two lakh people are atacked by cancer every year. The number of cancer patients may increase in the coming years, if preventive measures are not taken with due care and with it the death rate, if equipment for testing infections caused by cancer are not made available for early diagnosis and treatment The participants in the seminar came from forty-five local organisations and the Federation of Anti-Cancer Activists of Bangladesh (FACAB). They also pointed out that the spread of cancer in Bangladesh is quite pronounced. But preventive and corrective measures are not adequate.

That being so, social awareness about the disease and measures for control of the disease are important

An assertion made by a distinguished professor of Oncology that the number of cancer patients may increase upto twenty million in coming two decades should be viewed with care by concerned quarters. The professionals in the field of healthcare services owe a great deal to the society. They render service to patients at different medical centres and hospitals. The prices of anti-cancer medicine should also be kept at a reasonable level.

Private entrepreneurs have already set up hospitals and testing laboratories in cities and towns in the country. These institutions have earned fame for being efficient and service-oriented. They have shatered the image of public hospitals and medical colleges and universities in the country.

But prevention is always beter than cure. And the official agencies in the field may concentrate more on creating awareness about food habits that are believed to be the causative factors that lead to the disease. Experts say taking of fast food, tobacco smoking or chewing and exposure to some hazardous chemicals have more risks of causing cancer in the human body. The people may be advised to keep away from those. Then they may also be told how cancer can be detected at early and curative stages before the disease gets the patient to the terminal stage.