The closing ceremony and scientific session of the month-long breast cancer awareness and screening programme organised by the Bangladesh Breast Cancer Awareness Forum was held on Saturday at 3:30pm in the conference hall on the third floor of Zia Heart Foundation Hospital in Dinajpur.
Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister Prof AZM Zahid Hossain attended the event as the chief guest, while National Parliament Whip Md Akhtaruzzaman Mia and Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas were present as special guests.
The session was presided over by Prof Dr Habibullah Talukder Ruskin, Founder and Chief Co-ordinator of the Bangladesh Breast Cancer Awareness Forum and Honorary Adviser of Khursheed Jahan Haq Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital. The Khursheed Jahan Haq Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital, which is being implemented in phases as an associate institution of Zia Heart Foundation, co-organised the function, reads a press release.
Addressing the gathering as the chief guest, Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister Prof AZM Zahid Hossain highly praised the long-standing initiatives of the Bangladesh Breast Cancer Awareness Forum and assured them of all government cooperation, stating that the Forum is discharging duties on behalf of the government.
He expressed confidence that the Khursheed Jahan Haq Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital will expand its capacity to serve marginal people across the northern region alongside its screening and awareness drives.
Presenting an illustrated report on the month-long campaign, Prof Dr Habibullah Talukder Ruskin announced that the Forum will now conduct awareness programmes across all upazilas of one district every month nationwide, following the Dinajpur model.
He informed that the outpatient department (OPD) at the temporary building of Khursheed Jahan Haq Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital is already operational, with two medical officers and an oncologist attending to cancer patients daily.
He added that day-care chemotherapy for selected patients will commence tomorrow, and the facility will be upgraded to a 30-bed hospital with indoor services within the next three months. Furthermore, a Development Project Proposal (DPP) has been submitted to the government to secure funds for constructing a building with a radiotherapy bunker on the hospital’s land and purchasing required equipment.
National Parliament Whip Md Akhtaruzzaman Mia, MP, and Vice-President of Khursheed Jahan Haq Institute AKM Azad also addressed the function. Later, Chief Guest Prof Dr Zahid Hossain unveiled the plaque of the newly constructed Cabin Block at Zia Heart Foundation Hospital.
Throughout October, the Bangladesh Breast Cancer Awareness Forum and its member organisations arranged discussions, street meetings, Pink Road Processions, and distributed informative leaflets in Bengali across Dhaka and various parts of the country. As part of the campaign, street meetings and awareness leaflet distribution were carried out across every upazila of Dinajpur district on 29 and 30 October.
