Penn Nalam Cancer Prevention Programme

Penn Nalam, a unit of Sri Dhanvantri Trust, is a "women for women" cancer prevention and early detection centre. The prime objective of the organisation is to save the lives of women who have cancer. We go to different places- villages, schools, colleges, companies and offices, to spread awareness about cancer and to provide them with door-step screening.

Penn Nalam devotes nearly 30% of its clinical time for Cancer Awareness Programme, with our main aim to prevent, control and detect cancer at an early stage of the disease.

A vast majority of women in our part of the world do not present themselves for medical care early enough due to various reasons, such as illiteracy, lack of awareness and financial constraints.

Because of the absence of a proper breast cancer screening program, the majority of breast cancers are diagnosed at a very advanced stage. Consequent to this, the mortality due to breast cancer is very high.

To intensify our initiative to reach out to the very doorstep of the deserving, we have implemented mobile screening programs to do mammographic and cervical cancer screening in and around Chennai and Tamil Nadu.

We can pick up women from poor background area and conduct screening camp at Penn Nalam.

The project aims to offer Pap smear screening for cervical cancer to all married women. Sono Mammogram will be offered to women below age 40. X-Ray Mammographic screening for breast cancer will be offered to women between ages 40 to 70 years.

Blood tests – Majority of women from lower economic strata of society have anaemia and low sugar complaints. They are often not aware of these health problems. Hence, Penn Nalam has decided to conduct sugar and haemoglobin tests for all women who are participating in the screening camp.

Screening for breast and cervical cancer will detect disease at an early stage. Early detection has the following advantages.

• Early detection can cure breast cancer and regular Pap Smears can prevent cervical cancer.

• Organ preservation may be possible with early detection.

• Serious, expensive cytotoxic treatments like chemotherapy will not be required.

• Health care costs are less with early detection, as treatment intensity is less.

The majority of the lower economic family women have anaemia problems and sugar complaints. The identified women will be properly guided to take proper diet and medication.