Encourage women to speak up about their health issues: Prez

Bengaluru: President Droupadi Murmu urged people on Friday to encourage women in their households to openly discuss their health-related issues. Many times, women in a family do not receive timely diagnosis and treatment for their health issues. This may be due to traditional mindsets where addressing their health concerns is not a priority for the family, including the women themselves. Such delays, especially in cases of cancer, can be critical, said Murmu, de-livering the key-note speech after inaugurating KLE Cancer Hospital in Bel-agavi. She also emphasised that society, as a whole, needs to take wom-en's health more seriously and actively contribute to their care, ensuring they receive timely and appropriate treatment. Murmu highlighted a global study identifying cancer as a leading cause of death worldwide.

In 2022, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 mil-lion deaths globally. In India, the incidence of cancer is approximately 100 cases for every one lakh people, she said. She mentioned that, according to a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the incidence of can-cer in India is expected to increase by about 13 per cent in 2025 compared to 2020.

The setting up of a state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Belagavi is a signifi-cant step toward providing specialised cancer treatment and palliative care to the people, Murmu said. She also said that according to a globally re-spected medical journal, there has been a significant improvement in the timely initiation of cancer treatment due to the Ayushman Bharat Jan Arog-ya Yojana.

The duration between cancer diagnosis and the beginning of treatment has been reduced compared to the period before the launch of this scheme, particularly for low-income groups, Murmu added. Now that the scope of the scheme has been expanded to include all senior citizens aged 70 and above, Murmu said this will further help senior citizens access affordable healthcare services for various diseases, including cancer.

The President also underscored the need for greater awareness regarding the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. "We come across many cases where, either due to the ignorance of the patient and family or finan-cial constraints, the diagnosis and treatment of diseases are delayed. In the case of cancer, this can prove fatal," Murmu said.