DC Cachar inaugurates HPV testing for early Cervical Cancer detection in Cachar Cancer Hospital

Feb. 18: To mark the beginning of the silver jubilee of the Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (CCHRC), a programme was organised on “Women’s Health, Cancer and HPV Testing” at the hospital here on Wednesday. The programme started with the inauguration of the ICMR sponsored HPV testing facility by Deputy Commissioner Cachar Keerthi Jalli.

The HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) testing instrument for the screening of cervical cancer is supported by (ICMR), Government of India and the construction of the facility is supported by Sunil Jain and Rangita Kothari of Delhi aluminium, Silchar in the memory of late Nirmal Kothari. Seetha Ravi Kannan with great enthusiasm began the event by giving the glimpses of the beginning of the hospital by the effort of the Cachar Cancer Hospital Society members and their hard work.

Dr. R Ravi Kannan, Director of the hospital welcomed the Deputy Commissioner Cachar and all other guests and shared the hospital philosophy and how important women health is. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner Cachar, Keerthi Jalli congratulated all the doctors and staff of Cachar Cancer Hospital on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

DC Jalli said that there is a trend in India for donations in many fields so more people should come forward with the sources not only by donating the amount but should help the families of the cancer patients. She insisted on early HPV testing for women who have a tendency to put their health behind their families. Cervical cancer is preventable and early screening helps fight it in advance. She requested more and more women to get themselves tested.

Rangita Kothari also spoke on the occasion. Apart from her, Neelmadhav Das, Secretary, CCHS shared his views on the occasion. After the inauguration, Dr. Rajeev Kumar, Head, Research Division provided overview of the HPV testing instrument (Hybrid Capture, USFDA approved). It is pertinent to mention here that the hospital is offering this test at a very subsidized cost of Rs 999/-. Long term High risk HPV infection is responsible for the development of cervical cancer in women. This HPV test is recommended in women who are in the age group of 25 to 65 years of age. This test should be done once in 5 years.

Dr. Poulumi Mukherjee, Consultant Surgical Oncologist briefly talked on the role of self screening and awareness for the sound health in women. Dr. Litika Vermani, Sriyeta Chakraborty, Amol Dhar, Jewel Laskar, Debabrata Datta, Abhijit Nath, Partho,Somnath, Sarita and other staff helped in the execution of this event.