Shobha trust has been set up with a vision to inspire women and youth in rural and semi-urban areas to become change agents for their communities and families. There is a huge gap in understanding of cancer and its risk factors linked to nutrition, poor lifestyle, stress, and ingesting tobacco and alcohol. The Trust envisions young women and youth in these areas to take lessons from these activities and spread this information and insights in their own families and communities to make better choices about nutrition, yoga, early treatment, etc.
Sammprada is led by Dr. Radheshyam Naik, a renowned Oncologist in the country with more than 3 decades of experience. He believes that 60-70 % of the cancers can be prevented by creating awareness in the youth, screening programs etc. Building on the curative services, the trust intends to broaden its services in the preventive domain through a social approach. The idea is to implement a community-based cancer screening program, rather than a clinic-based program, which effectively reaches the underprivileged population. Such tests enable detection of pre-cancer or early stage cancer in asymptomatic individuals. This approach expedites timely diagnosis and offering early treatment, which in-turn leads to better outcomes in most beneficiaries.
Cancer is caused by combination of several factors over a period of time. We at Shobha trust, want to take initiatives to protect the youth and reduce chances of getting cancer in future. Following 4 domains could be addressed for the planned activities for the youth .
1) Awareness lecture:
iii) Benefits of screening tests
2) HPV vaccination for adolescents
3) Advocacy for cancer screening
4) Evidence on school based interventions
5) Creating Cancer Warriors to spread awareness