Hyderabad doctor gets Bangla honors

The president of the ABSI outlined strategies employed towards improving the delivery of Breast Healthcare in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which could potentially be replicated in Bangladesh

The President of the Association of Breast Surgeons of India (ABSI), Dr P Raghu Ram was felicitated by The Association of Breast Surgeons of Bangladesh at their first Annual International Congress that was held in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in Dhaka.

He was honoured for having played a pivotal role in the formation of South Asia’s First Breast Surgical Society (ABSI) in India. Addressing delegates at the occasion, Dr Raghu Ram spoke on 'Breast Healthcare in South Asia - Time for a Paradigm Shift' at the Congress and outlined the innovative strategies employed over the past eight years towards improving the delivery of Breast Health Care in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, which could potentially be replicated in Bangladesh.

He also emphasised the successful model of implementing South Asia’s largest population based Breast Cancer Screening Programme being undertaken since 2012 by the Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation in Telangana and AP.

“As Breast cancer is the commonest cancers affecting women in Bangladesh, with very similar profile to India in that most of them present in the advanced stages with the vast majority succumbing within a year of diagnosis,” said Dr Raghu Ram who impressed upon Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhuri, Speaker, Bangladesh Parliament and Zahed Makek, Bangladesh's Health Minister that there is an urgent need to implement a population based breast cancer screening programme throughout the country.