Pune: A team of 13 doctors from the Armed Forces Medical College have embarked on a unique motorcycle tour to conduct oral health and oral cancer detection and treatment camps-on-wheels for veterans of the armed forces and their dependents. The initiative will cover the districts of Ahmednagar, Latur, Solapur, Kolhapur and Sangli.
Air Marshal C K Ranjan, Commandant of AFMC, flagged off the drive on Monday morning. It will cover a distance of 785km and is expected to benefit close to 1.5 lakh ex-servicemen and their dependents across the five districts.
The sainik welfare officers of the districts will co-ordinate with the touring doctors to provide diagnostic and treatment facilities to the veterans. The drive also aims at creating awareness about oral health and oral cancer.
Brigadier S K Roychowdhury, head of AFMC's department of dental surgery and oral health sciences, said, "Our main objective is to pay respect to the veterans by creating awareness about oral health and detecting possible oral cancer cases. We completed our first station at Ahmednagar on Monday where more than 200 ex-servicemen were checked. During the camp, we came across four veterans who may develop oral cancer if care is not taken and timely treatment is not provided. These veterans will now be treated at the college in the coming days."
Roychowdhury said the team from AFMC comprises all types of dental surgeons who have experience in their respective subjects."Creating awareness about oral health among the veterans is the need of the hour as most of them stay in rural areas and don't take care of their oral health due to various reasons." After Ahmednagar, the team will go to Latur, Sangli, Solapur, Satara and will return to Pune on December 9.
Director of Maharashtra Sainik Welfare Board, Colonel Suhas Jatkar (retd), said, "The camp on wheels is a positive step taken by the AFMC doctors as hundreds of veterans, particularly from remote villages, will benefit from the initiative. Usually, these veterans don't get specialised treatment in their respective districts due to absence of dental surgeons. Oral health related cases don't get timely treatment and, thereby, lead to further complications."
Air Marshal C K Ranjan, Commandant of AFMC, flagged off the drive on Monday morning. It will cover a distance of 785km and is expected to benefit close to 1.5 lakh ex-servicemen and their dependents across the five districts.
The sainik welfare officers of the districts will co-ordinate with the touring doctors to provide diagnostic and treatment facilities to the veterans. The drive also aims at creating awareness about oral health and oral cancer.
Brigadier S K Roychowdhury, head of AFMC's department of dental surgery and oral health sciences, said, "Our main objective is to pay respect to the veterans by creating awareness about oral health and detecting possible oral cancer cases. We completed our first station at Ahmednagar on Monday where more than 200 ex-servicemen were checked. During the camp, we came across four veterans who may develop oral cancer if care is not taken and timely treatment is not provided. These veterans will now be treated at the college in the coming days."
Roychowdhury said the team from AFMC comprises all types of dental surgeons who have experience in their respective subjects."Creating awareness about oral health among the veterans is the need of the hour as most of them stay in rural areas and don't take care of their oral health due to various reasons." After Ahmednagar, the team will go to Latur, Sangli, Solapur, Satara and will return to Pune on December 9.
Director of Maharashtra Sainik Welfare Board, Colonel Suhas Jatkar (retd), said, "The camp on wheels is a positive step taken by the AFMC doctors as hundreds of veterans, particularly from remote villages, will benefit from the initiative. Usually, these veterans don't get specialised treatment in their respective districts due to absence of dental surgeons. Oral health related cases don't get timely treatment and, thereby, lead to further complications."
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