#kora19 | THE CAUSE

In line with last year’s workings, Kathmandu Kora made a call for proposals this year as well. Various proposal flooded in, spanning causes related to health, education, reconstruction, promotion of cycling and youth training. After a rigorous selection process, we have decided to support the following cause.

RIDE AGAINST CANCER 

- Target: Rs. 6,00,000

Richa Bajimaya Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organisation that engages itself in cancer prevention, screening and awareness, school health, cancer advocacy/training and engages in cancer support groups. They envision a Cancer Fear Free society and regularly conduct various activities to spread awareness and screen for breast and cervical cancer. To this end, they have conducted over 20 breast and cervical cancer awareness and screening camps in and around Kathmandu Valley within the last 4 years through their own fundraising initiatives.

More info at : https://richafoundation.org.np/ https://www.facebook.com/richafoundation/?ref=br_rs

This year’s fund will go towards 10 screening camps over the period of one year, screening at least 100 participants per camp. These camps aim at sensitizing the public to the issues of breast and cervical cancer while also empowering women to look after their own health.

The results of screening can help detect cancer at the early stages itself, leading to the prevention of avoidable deaths in Nepalese women as a result of breast and cervical cancer. There is strong evidence that screening can reduce deaths from cervical cancer by 80% or more among screened women. Even a single screening between the ages of 30 and 40 can reduce a woman’s lifetime risk of cervical cancer by 25% to 36%. However, in Nepal, cervical and breast cancer usually presents in the late stages and hence, indicating the dire need for effective screening programs.

Given the sociocultural and economic context of Nepalese societies, it becomes imperative that a comfortable setting is made available to the women in communities around the country by mobilizing the community members who can motivate them to participate in awareness and screening process. Furthermore, given such immense significance of early detection of cancer in reducing cancer mortality and creating a cancer fear-free society, screening programs seem to be an essential aspect of effective public health programs in the nation.

While their exact locations have not been fixed at this point in time, these screening will happen in underprivileged communities in and around the Kathmandu Valley, as statistics show that around 40-50% of women even within the valley are either unaware of such screening mechanisms or hesitant to seek such facilities due to the stigma attached to cancer.

Even a donation of just Rs. 500 can go a long way towards saving the life of a single woman under this program.

So how many lives are you willing to save?