I just received news through Facebook that one well-known aunty of mine had passed away after a long battle with cancer. During my last Christmas holidays in Mizoram, I saw her lying on her sick bed, pale and emaciated. It was hard to believe that she was the same person I prayed with 2 years earlier following the death of her husband, who too died from cancer. Another news from my locality on the same day says that a 56-year old man just died of cancer while his wife was away in Mumbai for cancer treatment! One thing that worried, alarmed and shaken me so much during my stay in Mizoram was the apparent rapid increase of cancer among the Mizos! Even just among my close relatives and friends, I could count so many of them with cancer! Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, CMC Vellore, etc are so well-known among the Mizo people not because of any other reason but because of cancer! I asked myself many questions. Why is cancer so common among us? Perhaps the single most common cause of death in Mizoram is cancer! I feel sad and afraid too. I am sad and worried because:
1. We are not afraid of cancer until we get one ourselves! It is not surprising that Mizoram, being the highest concentration of smokers in India, should have the highest incidence of cancer. The fact that tobacco consumption has been a well-established factor for causing various forms of cancer in humans has never deterred Mizos from smoking and consuming tobacco in various forms. We just ignore the warnings, 'burying our heads in the sand' like the proverbial Ostrich. We are too addicted and hooked to tobacco, and we would rather smoke and die than giving up our precious habit! Even when we give up, many of us give up smoking only after we get cancer, which is a bit too late!
2. We loved 'smoked' pork! I do! I myself liked smoked pork (Vawksa rep) very much! Even the fat itself makes us over-weight and obese which increases the risk for cancer! Not just pork, even other meats and vegetables are commonly smoked and dried before eating among the Mizos. It has been proved that those people who eat smoked foods are more likely to get cancer, especially of stomach and other gastro-intestinal cancers, than the average population.
3. We are over-weight and lazy! Not all of us, of course, but many of us! Our life-style has been changing rapidly. Beware of over-weight and obesity. Exercise and reduction of weight lessens the risk of cancer and heart-attack.
4. HIV is here: The increase in HIV/AIDS will also bring an increase in cancer because of lowered immunity.
5. We don't take care of our health until it is seriously wrong! I recently heard of one well-known figure in Aizawl who died of cancer. He had been having some complaints for a few years, but he did not get any medical check up because he was afraid that it might be cancer! He quickly passed away after he was really sick and finally being diagnosed as having cancer. Many cancer cases could be cured if diagnosed early.
It is not my intention here to discuss all the causes and risk factors for cancer. My main concern here is the above points which have been making me very worried when I see so many cancer deaths among my fellow Mizos. If only we take note of the above few points and make positive decisions for our own lives, I believe cancer among the Mizos will decrease. Mizoram being a Christian state, I continue trying to convey the fact that smoking and Christianity don't go together, but my message don't seem to go very far! We would rather pray for healing of cancer than making our body (the Temple of the Holy Spirit) holy and healthy for God!
Cancer, Cancer everywhere in Mizoram! Let's do something about it. Please take care of yourself!
Thank you.
1. We are not afraid of cancer until we get one ourselves! It is not surprising that Mizoram, being the highest concentration of smokers in India, should have the highest incidence of cancer. The fact that tobacco consumption has been a well-established factor for causing various forms of cancer in humans has never deterred Mizos from smoking and consuming tobacco in various forms. We just ignore the warnings, 'burying our heads in the sand' like the proverbial Ostrich. We are too addicted and hooked to tobacco, and we would rather smoke and die than giving up our precious habit! Even when we give up, many of us give up smoking only after we get cancer, which is a bit too late!
2. We loved 'smoked' pork! I do! I myself liked smoked pork (Vawksa rep) very much! Even the fat itself makes us over-weight and obese which increases the risk for cancer! Not just pork, even other meats and vegetables are commonly smoked and dried before eating among the Mizos. It has been proved that those people who eat smoked foods are more likely to get cancer, especially of stomach and other gastro-intestinal cancers, than the average population.
3. We are over-weight and lazy! Not all of us, of course, but many of us! Our life-style has been changing rapidly. Beware of over-weight and obesity. Exercise and reduction of weight lessens the risk of cancer and heart-attack.
4. HIV is here: The increase in HIV/AIDS will also bring an increase in cancer because of lowered immunity.
5. We don't take care of our health until it is seriously wrong! I recently heard of one well-known figure in Aizawl who died of cancer. He had been having some complaints for a few years, but he did not get any medical check up because he was afraid that it might be cancer! He quickly passed away after he was really sick and finally being diagnosed as having cancer. Many cancer cases could be cured if diagnosed early.
It is not my intention here to discuss all the causes and risk factors for cancer. My main concern here is the above points which have been making me very worried when I see so many cancer deaths among my fellow Mizos. If only we take note of the above few points and make positive decisions for our own lives, I believe cancer among the Mizos will decrease. Mizoram being a Christian state, I continue trying to convey the fact that smoking and Christianity don't go together, but my message don't seem to go very far! We would rather pray for healing of cancer than making our body (the Temple of the Holy Spirit) holy and healthy for God!
Cancer, Cancer everywhere in Mizoram! Let's do something about it. Please take care of yourself!
Thank you.
i ziak tha hle mai, insum theihna thlarau rah hi mizo te hian kan mamoh ngot mai kei tiamin.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Late. Insum theihna chungchangah chuan i sawi hi a dik khawp mai. Thlarauva khah deuh a ngai a nih hi maw ti raw!
ReplyDelete