Cancer awareness programme for medical students in JODHPUR

JODHPUR: With an aim to tackle the estimated spurt of 500% in cancer cases in the Country in the next two decades, the Union government has signed an MoU with the Indian Cooperative Oncology Network (ICON), a national body of cancer specialists specializing in cancer training, teaching, education and cooperative cancer clinical trials in India. The objective of the MoU is to conduct cancer awareness and education (CME) in all the 315 odd medical colleges of the country for undergraduate and post-graduate medical students.

Hemant Malhotra, head of medical oncology (SMS Medical College) and the programme director of CME, known as PromOTE (Promoting of Oncology Training and Education), said recognising the gravity of the situation and the relative lack of knowledge and interest in the medical students - both UGs and PGs -regarding cancer, this programme is expected to make them better acquainted with oncology, to ensure early diagnosis and better treatment of cancer patients.
Malhotra said according to WHO's observation, more than two-thirds of all the cancer deaths annually will be recorded in developing countries. "Indian cancer registry data suggest that one in every 10 Indians will develop cancer in his/her lifetime. The diagnosis, work-up and the management of the cancer patient has undergone a dramatic change in the past 20 years and today more than 50% of all cancer cases can be cured," Malhotra added.

The first CME of the state was held in Jodhpur at the S N Medical College on Sunday and the next CME will take place in the SMS Medical College in Jaipur.
Jodhpur's SN Medical College also became the state's first medical college to have connected with the high speed National Knowledge Network with the help of National Informatics Centre (NIC), which provided technical support to the college. This landmark initiative paved way for the state's first Tele-CME through video conferencing recently, establishing contact of the SN Medical College with Hospital for Sick Children ( Toronto).
Principal of the S N Medical College, Arvind Mathur, said doctors of both hospitals discussed the emerging concept of universal global physician by emphasizing knowledge of culture and traditions of other countries for a physician and international collaborations in medical education in Indian perspective followed by a CME on pediatric neurology, under which two