BENGALURU: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday inaugurated a state-funded new block for cancer treatment at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology and urged people to consume healthier local cuisine and involve in physical activities to combat cancer.
He was speaking after the inauguration of the ‘State Cancer Institute Block’ here. The block is equipped with four additional linear accelerators — devices that are used to destroy malignant tumours using X-rays. The devices will also reportedly cut down the waiting period for patients to undergo radiotherapy, which is currently one-and-a-half months. A sum of Rs 120 crore was granted for procuring these devices, of which Rs30 crore was given by the state government.
Naidu said 30 lakh people were afflicted with cancer in the country at any given point. “According to Indian Council of Medical Research in 2016, the number of new cases detected will rise to 17.3 lakh and the number of deaths to 8.8 lakh by 2020. Breast and mouth cancers are the most common,” he said.
He added that it is important to undergo periodic screening. He had spoken to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to conduct free screenings at schools.
Naidu said sedentary lifestyles and poor food habits are the primary reasons for the rise of cancer. As he reeled off names of local dishes from Karnataka, the mention of ‘ragi mudde’ and ‘naati koli pulusu’ (country-made chicken curry) received a rapturous response.
Vice-Prez shows off multi-lingual skills
Naidu began his speech in Kannada before switching to English. In between, he spoke a few lines in his mother tongue Telugu and even recited Sanskrit ‘shlokas’.
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