MODEL CANCER CONTROL PROGRAM
A comprehensive cancer control program in the backward Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra has been started by The Tata Memorial Hospital. This program proposes to cover the eligible population of these districts with two rounds of screening for oral, cervix and breast cancers at two-year intervals.
Trained primary health care workers will perform screening. The treatment of the screened positive cases will be carried out locally at an NGO Hospital at Chiplun in Ratnagiri, the BKL Walavalkar Hospital. This program, which was started in August 2003, is an ‘Xth-plan Project’ of the Department of Atomic Energy that will be completed by March 2007 and is expected to form a model for district cancer control programs in the country.[4]