Haryana CM launches initiative on breast cancer screenings by visually impaired women

Gurugram, Feb 25 (PTI) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday launched an initiative here for the early detection and prevention of breast cancer, officials said.

As part of the 'Savera' programme, six visually impaired women have been trained to use their heightened sense of touch to find breast abnormalities. The women will be screened for free at three health centres in the city under the joint aegis of the Gurugram Health Department and Medanta Hospital.

These specially trained women will detect lumps of grain size of 0.5 cm and accordingly give a report, they said.

The programme was launched at the Civil Hospital in Sector 10, Gurugram, the Polyclinic in Sector 31, and the Primary Health Centre in Wazirabad.

Khattar said the initiative is first-of-its-kind in the country and expressed his intention to expand it to other districts of the state after it is successfully implemented in Gurugram.

An agreement for its expansion will soon be formalised between the health department and the Medanta Foundation, officials said.

Khattar said cancer often goes undiagnosed until its later stages, ranging from stage 2 to stage 4, impacting various parts of the body. Similarly, breast cancer is also one of those cancers. About 90,000 women across the country lose their lives every year due to breast cancer, he said.

He commended the 'Savera' programme for its "innovative" approach by leveraging the assistance of visually impaired women for breast cancer screening.

"The help of disabled sisters is being taken as part of the 'Savera' programme. These individuals possess remarkable qualities, particularly their heightened sense of touch. They will utilise this ability to effectively screen for breast cancer," he said.

To illustrate his point, he gave the referenced Surdas, who despite his blindness, became a prolific philosopher and poet.

"Surdas demonstrated that a disability should never hinder one's potential or contributions to society," Khattar said.

He said visually impaired people have natural tactile sensitivity. The importance of this ability has been understood, tested and used by people associated with the medical world, he said. PTI