Union Minister Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Pink Chain Cancer Campaign’ aimed at raising awareness about the disease and its prevention and cure at the North East Council (NEC) secretariat here on Saturday.
The week-long campaign, organised by the NEC and the Pink Chain Campaign, an NGO, will culminate on April 29.
Launching the campaign, Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Mr. Singh said the campaign is not necessarily meant for only the State of Meghalaya but for entire Northeast.
“The success of this campaign would lie when we will arrive at a situation where we would not have the requirement of such a campaign a few years from now,” he said.
Over the years, the prevalence of cancer has gone up in the Northeast due to various factors like food habits and lifestyle, Mr. Singh said.
The DoNER Minister also announced a 6-month course at the Chennai-based Adyar Cancer Institute for physicians or surgeons from the region.
Stating that the first batch has already left and started their course in January, he said the cost of training the doctors, surgeons and physicians will be borne by the Ministry and the Institute. - PTI