My India outreach would not be complete if I don’t mention my father Dr. Chandra Sekhar Das, Retired Professor & Head of Pediatrics, Silchar Medical College; Independent Practicing Pediatrician & Senior Consultant. He has relentlessly served the society for over 47 years, his age not a barrier for him being a workaholic, and even today, he is trying to help me by being on the Medical Advisory Board & by reaching out to the mothers/attendants of his pediatric patients coming to him by handing out the Breast self exam cards (free of cost) in local languages. This will be a huge contribution since Dr. Das is trusted immensely by his patients and when he discusses with the parents, the cause will be taken very seriously and attendants (mostly mothers) will consider & implement the Breast self-exam cards given to them meticulously/religiously. In addition, thank you Dr. Das for your interview & outlooks, to be published on BCH website. So thankful to Mr. Karuna Das and Mrs. Barnali for helping Dr. Das in the outreach.
Sincerely thankful to Mr. Dipankar Ghosh, Officer, writer, anchor for his tremendous support for the cause & inviting me for an interview! Thanks to Mr. Ghosh and BTN TV channel, for inviting me and helping me to take the messages on Breast Cancer scenario (emphasizing on coming out of embarrassment & taboo) to the media & mass public! I was amazed by the thought process of Mr. Ghosh & how diligently he walked me through the interview covering all the important aspects I tried to translate to the public. My sincere thanks to Ms. Payel Deb, Program in-charge, for your time and patience with the interview process and after!
I have no words to thank Mr. Rahul Chakraborty, Journalist, Dainik Jugasankha who invited me for an interview, took hours of his precious time to speak with me, understand my perspectives on why the survival of Breast cancer is significantly lower in India than the developed world, captured the issues of shyness, taboo & ignorance, issues with mammogram, & finally why I consider the Breast cancer advocates as my real strength and hero! Hats off to you, Mr. Chakraborty for your writeup, I am so honored and privileged from the bottom of my heart for considering me & my work, worth to be written about.
My earnest gratitude to Mr. Kumardeep Das, Senior Manager Engineering, Techzaar Consulting, for being on the Digital Technology Board of BCH & his enormous contribution in building the videos of the interviews for Breast Cancer Hub. Cannot thank you enough for your contribution for BCH from technology perspectives & for being a huge support & help in every areas from Day 1 of the inception of the foundation.
I am so grateful to Dr. Ruchira Das, Product Executive, Zuventus Healthcare, Mumbai, for being on the General Advisory Board of BCH & for building the network by spreading the messages of BCH on the issues of Breast Cancer through her own social media. So thoughtful of you Dr. Das & thank you again for being my immense strength & supporting the cause!
I couldn’t have completed the outreach without the support of my mother, Mrs. Rita Das, Secretary, Ladies Group Social Welfare Society, for taking care of my kids wholeheartedly, keeping herself away from the Workfront @outside home, so she could meticulously take care of Agastya & Agneya. In addition, I sincerely thank Mrs. Das for connecting me to other networks & her collaboration.
Cannot thank my paternal uncle, Mr. Kumud Shankar Das enough, who has been by my side being a great support for me and the cause and travelled with me to many places during the outreaches in Southern Assam & Tripura.
It was so great meeting Dr. Kumar Kanti Das (Dr. Lakhan Das), Director, Kalyani Hospital & so grateful to him for being on the Medical Advisory Board & for his valuable advice.
My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Virendra Jain, Avishek Printers & Publishers for coming forward to support the cause! I am so amazed by his generosity by not charging me for the Breast self-exam printouts in Bengali & Hindi that I took in Silchar from Abhishek Printers in July-August, 2018… it was such a great help!
I am so privileged & thankful to have Dr. Afifa Kausa, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Zoology, A.D.P College, Nagaon, Assam, coming forward to collaborate by creating awareness among the rural and urban populace and also in conducting grass root level research regarding health status and occurrence among the people of Nagaon district.
My respect for Mrs. Sobhana Bhattacharjee & Dr. (Prof) Kamana Krishna Bhattacharjee knows no bounds, such an honor meeting them, talking to them & will always treasure their words of encouragement. Cannot express how happy I was to receive their blessings…
Extremely thankful to Dr. Jhimli Bhattacharjee, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Assam University for coming forward to collaborate and most importantly, supporting the cause!
Thank you Mr. Amit Das, Teacher, Ramanuj College, for all your support & being on the connectors committee.
Thank you Mrs. Mitali Das, District General Secretary, International Human Rights Association, India for your support for the cause and being on the connectors committee.
By Dr. Lopamudra Das Roy
Founder & President, Breast Cancer Hub
Dr. C.S Das, explaining the mothers of his pediatric patients at his clinic, about early detection of Breast Cancer!
Dr. Chandra Sekhar Das, Retired Professor & Head of Pediatrics, Silchar Medical College; Independent Practicing Pediatrician & Senior Consultant, explaining the mothers of his pediatric patients who come to him with their babies/kids at his clinic, about Breast self exam and educating them about early detection that can save life. Dr. Das is doing this as outreach in groups. Hats off to him for his continued service at the age of 72+.