Leading doctors and health practitioners from across West Bengal and Jharkhand issued an urgent warning on the growing number of cancer pa...
Leading doctors and health practitioners from across West Bengal and Jharkhand issued an urgent warning on the growing number of cancer patients and the impact of air pollution. Speaking on the occasion of the World Cancer Day on a webinar organised by SwitchON Foundation in association with West Bengal Doctors Forum and Association of Radiation Oncologists of India, Doctors explained the dangerous mixtures of ambient air pollution invariably containing specific chemicals known to be highly carcinogenic to humans. Besides, the other health problems associated with PM2.5 and ultrafine particles can include heart and lung disease, bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and more intense flare-ups.
The Air Quality Indices of cities
across West Bengal have been showing alarmingly poor air quality for quite
some time now, exposing a large part of the population to severe health impact.
As per the experts, there has long been concern that airborne carcinogens
contribute to the global burden of cancer, especially of the lung, which
receives the most substantial inhaled doses. Environmental pollutants are
the risk factors for many cancers, and the most common is lung cancer followed
by urological cancers, haematological malignancies, head and neck and
gastrointestinal cancers. Lung cancer is the most often diagnosed cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In India, lung cancer
accounts for 5.9% of all cancers and 8.1% of all cancer-related deaths. Lung
cancer is highly fatal, with an overall 5-year survival rate of only 18%.
Dr. Suman
Mallik Chief of Radiation Oncology, NH Narayana SuperSpeciality Hospital,
attending the webinar said, “Substantial numbers of
lung cancer cases are observed among never-smokers” He added “Lately I have
seen a large number of lung cancer patients who never smoked”
Dr Bishan Basu, Associate Professor & Head of Dept (Radiotherapy), Calcutta National Medical College, West Bengal Doctors Forum said, “Growing level of air pollution in the cities has become a major threat to our health. People are suffering from respiratory diseases, cardiac diseases, and various types of cancer due to pollution. But, what we are discussing is the tip of the iceberg only and solutions are not as obvious as we think.”
Dr Abhijit
Sarkar, Consultant, Pediatric & Neonatal Medicine, Narayana MultiSpecialty
and Narayana SuperSpecialty Hospitals said, “Various
cancer cases along with other acute and chronic airways diseases are on the
rise in children and this definitely raises alarm bells for adults to be more
responsive in their actions for a cleaner air across.” As per some global
research the incidence of childhood cancers is also increasing, based on a
recent report of data from 62 countries and more than 100 population-based
registries.
Dr MV
Chandrakanth Consultant Medical Oncology, NH Narayana Superspeciality Hospitals
said, “Now, there is enough epidemiologic
and experimental evidence of the genotoxic and mutagenic effects of air
pollution on human DNA, which is a key cancer driver.”
The organiser of the webinar SwitchON
Foundation launched an important medical student engagement
programme “Clean Air Medical Student Ambassador Programme”, with a mission to
engage with the medical student fraternity in order to boost the awareness of
the current health impact and damages caused by Air Pollution. Vinay Jaju MD
SwitchON Foundation said, “The major global environmental movements are
being carried by the youth and medical students who are the future of
healthcare experts, can make a significant contribution to the need for larger
awareness in the society”
Dr. Arup
Haldar, Consultant Pulmonologist, Woodlands Multispecialty Hospitals said, “Life expectancy has been drastically reduced in the presence of
air pollution. But overall awareness of this menace is scarce. This is not only
true for the general population but also true for medical professionals. So to
raise awareness we need an army of dedicated people. We also need a lot of
research to delineate air pollution as a big killer. A big step to achieve this
goal is forming the brigade, as planned by Switch ON foundation. I am with them
at every step.”
No comments