Health insurance must be mandatory: Mahima

Ludhiana: An annual event “Unite for Pinktober”, a cancer awareness programme hosted by Krishna Pran Charitable Trust and headed by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, was held at Guru Nanak Stadium here on Wednesday.
The event among others was attended by Bollywood actress Mahima Chaudhry, a breast cancer survivor. Mahima Chaudhry shared her experiences with the gathering.She spoke about her personal battle with breast cancer and how she emerged stronger from the suffering.
Mahima Chaudhry said she found herself depressed and lonely after the doctors diagnosed her with cancer. However, she said she was astonished when the doctors told her that now breast cancer was curable if detected at first stage. And her disease was diagnosed at an initial stage. She suggested every woman should do self-examination on a regular basis to check early symptoms of the disease.
Mahima Chaudhry recounted the challenges she faced during the treatment and even after the treatment. She said there is also a need to conduct more research as to why more women are suffering from breast cancer in India.
Replying to a question, Mahima Chaudhry suggested to MP Arora to work for bringing a law enabling every citizen to have compulsory health insurance to meet health challenges in the future. She opined that huge money is required to face health challenges like cancer at any stage because treatment is very costly.
MP Sanjeev Arora spoke about the importance of October every year. He said October month is observed as “Pink Month” every year since 1985, adding he thanked Mahima for joining them in creating mass awareness against breast cancer.
Arora remembered his parents who died of cancer. He said had they been diagnosed at an early stage their lives could have been saved. He said like in previous years, Krishna Pran Charitable Trust has created a short film this year too for creating mass awareness against breast cancer.
Eminent doctors Dr Sandeep Puri, Dr Gurpreet Brar and Dr Gurpreet Singh Wandar were among those who spoke on the occasion. Leading industrialists Padam Shri Rajni Bector, Kamal Oswal, Gagan Khanna, Rajesh Aggarwal and Balbir Kumar Arora were present on the occasion.