A Cancer Screening Centre (CSC) was inaugurated yesterday under the auspices of the Chhabi Sahayog Foundation (CSF) of Navi Mumbai at Topkhana in Pedong in Kalimpong district, amidst a large gathering of local dignitaries and residents. Inaugurating the centre, noted hill educationist Dr GS Yonzone, former principal of Kalimpong College, and Partha Roy, the National General Secretary of CSF, said that the centre will go a long way in diagnosing and treating cancer in the region.

Roy dwelt at length on the various cancer care activities of the Chhabi Foundation ever since it was established five years ago. “The activities include early screening of people of different age groups, providing food and lodging facilities for long-distance patients, financial help and mental health counselling and most importantly, raising awareness among the people on how to prevent cancer from occurring,” Mr Roy said. According to him, the foundation has successfully treated hundreds of people and also helped cure those suffering. It has also established branches in Maharashtra, Delhi, Manipur, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Jharkhand and Assam.

Assuring full assistance and cooperation in taking the Pedong centre forward, Mr Roy said that the first activity of the foundation would be to organise a cancer screening test during the forthcoming months of September–October 2024, for which the local Kalimpong District Committee would have to come up with the necessary logistics. According to Dr Yonzone, the Pedong centre has been made possible with “extraordinary initiatives” taken by Sarvashri Vivek Choubey, Chewang Bhutia, Chandra Rai, Amrita Sharma, Rajen Thapa and others who were instrumental in maintaining contact with Mumbai and also in organising the event at Pedong, the first of its kind in the hill region. Stressing the need to generate awareness among the people, Dr Yonzone said that the hill region can definitely be made a cancer-free zone if everyone takes the cancer issue seriously. “Prevention is better than cure should be our aim. The Pedong centre now needs full-time trained staff to deal with the various aspects related to cancer treatment,” he said.