Our International Committee is pleased to announce a donation of £500 to the Rotary Club of Dhaka in Bangladesh to go towards its cancer screening project. The funds are now in Bangladesh and we’ve been delighted to receive an update on the project.
Our club has previously given £550 from its funds towards the screening project and has been receiving regular updates on the project, which is part of the Dhaka Club’s ‘Vision 2037’ programme (2037 being when the Club celebrates its centennial year). Thanks to the massive voluntary workforce behind the project and support from many organizations, the cost of screening is estimated to only be around £3 per person – less than the cost of a cup of coffee on the high street here in the UK.
According to the most recent update, there have been 38 screening camps (in Manikgang, Pubail, Tongi, Gazipur etc) and a total of 2107 women have been screened, with an average of just over 55 women screened/camp. The project has involved 129 specialists (gynaecologists/ oncologists) and 37 hospitals/health organizations. While 13 members of the Dhaka Club have been directly involved, around 34 Rotary Clubs around Bangladesh have supported the project, as well as 15 other voluntary organizations, individuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
We heard that the latest screening camp, in Faridpur, took place just yesterday and that preparations for the next camp, to be held in Dohar next Tuesday, (supported by our donation), are already underway.
“We’re very grateful to everyone that has donated to our project via the Rotary Club of Canterbury,” said Rotarian Gulru Hasan, one of the project team Rotarians from the Dhaka Club, who added “we appreciate the support and friendship that we have received from your club over the years”.
Picture: A family visit the latest screening camp in Faridpur. Seeing a family together like this is a reminder of how the health of one family member can impact a whole family. Picture credit: Rotary Club of Dhaka (reproduced with permission).
