[ Bengia Ajum ]
ZIRO, 5 Oct: Guwahati-based Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) has issued a scientific clearance to research a pilot project on stomach cancer in Ziro Valley in Lower Subansiri district.
The BBCI is a grant-in-aid institute of the department of atomic energy, government of India, and a unit of Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai.
The institute urged the district administration to constitute a community advisory board to collaborate with the district administration. Also, it announced that the matter will now be sent to the ethics committee of the TRIHMS to start the research work.
The Lower Subansiri district administration on Friday constituted the community advisory committee from the various sections of the society, fulfilling one of the main conditions of the BBCI.
Tanii Supun Dukun (TSD) general secretary Taku Chatung has been appointed as the chairman of the committee. It was the TSD which had approached Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute in October 2023 and urged it to research the cancer prevalence among the Apatani community of Lower Subansiri district. The TSD had written a letter to the director of the institute, him to conduct the research.
“We would highly appreciate your good office for an initiative to conduct research work as to why the Apatani community has a high prevalence of cancer diseases, especially visceral organs, amongst all communities of Arunachal Pradesh. It is a very worrisome and serious health issue for society. The population of Apatani is approximately 70,000 only and mostly inhabits in Ziro. More people are dying from cancer than any other disease in the recent past,” the TSD wrote.
The institute responded to the letter and expressed willingness to collaborate with the TSD for the research. In August this year, the TSD general secretary visited the BBCI and had a meeting with its director Dr BB Borthakur.
“This is going to be a pilot project where they will try to find out what could be the reason for such a high number of stomach cancer cases in Ziro Valley. After that cohort research is undertaken, this is a long-term research. The team has already done genetic mapping of the area. We want to find the reason, so that our future generation can be protected from this disease,” said Chatung.
