National Cancer Awareness Day: Odisha Govt Provides IEC Materials To ASHAs, ANMs

Bhubaneswar: The state government provided IEC materials to ASHAs and ANMs to improve breast cancer screening on the occasion of National Cancer Awareness Day on November 7.

The IEC (information, education and communication) materials were released in presence of Dr Ajit Mohanty, Director of Public Health, Dr Niranjan Mishra, Director of SIHFW, Dr Amarendra Mohanty and representatives of NHM, Acharya Harihar Post-Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC), and Department of Health and Family Welfare at a virtual function. Radio jingles on breast and cervical cancer were also released on the occasion.

These IEC materials were developed by State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW) in collaboration with PRARAMBH Breast Health Initiative project and Merck supported Cervical Cancer project, according to an official statement.

This was followed by a virtual conference on “Awareness and demand generation for breast and cervical cancer” presided by special secretary, Public Health, Dr Ajit Mohanty. It was attended among others by Dr Shalinee Singh, Director, NICPR; Dr Anurag Srivastava, HOD Surgery, AIIMS Delhi; Dr Gaurav Agarwal, SGPGI Lucknow and representative members from Novartis, Jhpiego and Tata Trust.

The officials discussed “issues, concerns, progress of activities in cancer screening and detection in order to generate strategic actions for the upcoming years including inclusions for innovation and resource allocation”.

Dr Bhagyalaxmi from AHPGIC presented cervical cancer innovations for inclusion in the state’s implementation plan. AIIMS, Delhi and Bhubaneswar, and NICPR committed training support to state for decentralisation of diagnosis to districts with remote support from them.