Manipal Hospitals and Kolkata Municipal Corporation will collaborate to screen underprivileged women across the city for cancer and non-communicable diseases.

Kawach, a community health screening initiative by the Manipal Foundation, was inaugurated in the city on Tuesday in partnership with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

“The problem with cancer is that it often manifests late. The key factor in fighting cancer is to know at an early stage whether one has the disease or symptoms,” said Harinarayan Sharma, CEO, Manipal Foundation.

He said the screening will be done for breast, cervical and oral cancers along with non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

Sharma was speaking on the sidelines of the hospital chain’s event to inaugurate the Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Care Centre, which features a state-of-the-art clinical haematology, haemato-oncology, and bone marrow transplant unit, in addition to Kawach at Manipal EM Bypass Hospital.

“The Kawach programme is mainly for the underprivileged women,” said Sharma.

“We have procured devices which female nurses will use to screen women,” said Sharma.

If the screening shows red colour, then the person is sent for further probe. If the colour is yellow, the person will be asked to undergo another screening after three years. If green, then after five years.

“Manipal Hospitals has proposed to conduct screenings in the urban primary health centres in all 144 wards,” said a civic official.

Manipal Hospitals will provide trained doctors, nurses and equipment.

“They said they will complete the screenings within a year,” said the official.

Kawach was first introduced at Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, where 3,000 women were screened. It was formally launched in Siliguri last November.

“We collaborate with local NGOs, civic bodies and panchayats to implement the programme,” said Sharma.

Mayor Firhad Hakim, who was present at the event, said: “We hear from doctors that cancer is curable. But often, patients, after getting detected, are told that they came in late,” said Hakim.

Sourav Datta, director, Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Care (Mukundapur, Salt Lake and Siliguri Clusters), said that in addition to medical, radiation, and surgical oncology, oncopsychology and palliative care are also crucial components of comprehensive care, alongside other specialities such as cardiology.

“We are conducting a programme to provide palliative care to end-stage cancer patients at home,” said Datta.