By A.MATTHEWS

LOS ANGELES, CA - Ajinder Pal Singh Chawla , founder of the ‘ Roko Cancer Campaign’, on a recent visit to Southern California, in an interview spoke  about the campaign against cancer and the MKC (Manjit Kaur Chawla) Trust a charity registered in the UK.

Chawla , a native of London,  lost his wife to breast cancer at an early age, which motivated him to launch the Roko Cancer Campaign. For those who may not know, ‘Roko’ is the Hindi word for Stop.

Today his work spans across many cities in India and in the UK as the campaign has grown.

Chawla has worked with Cherie Blair, Baroness Amos, Baroness Verma, Karan Billimoria,  Keith Vaz, Geoff Hoon, Sandra Howard, Sarah Kennedy and many other prominent dignitaries in UK to highlight the disease among ethnic minorities in UK.

Giving a brief history, Chawla explains that the MKC Trust was launched in London by the Chawla Family in memory of his wife, followed by the launching of MKC Roko Cancer Charitable Trust in India. The core vision behind the trust is to bring awareness of breast cancer and provide early detection, leading to treatment wherever possible,  referrals to hospitals for treatment and care and helping terminally ill patients to survive with comfort and die in peace and dignity. The trust also supports  families of victims of this deadly disease.

According to Chawla, “Within many ethnic minorities, the family depends on the woman and if she can’t look after herself and get early diagnoses and treatment,  the whole family collapses after she passes away. That’s what I suffered when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and passed away.”

He discloses that  there is a rising incidence of breast cancer in India. According to ‘The International Agency for Research on Cancer’, which is part of the World Health Organization, there were approximately 79,000 women per year affected by breast cancer in India in 2001, over 80,000 women in 2002. Each year 80,000 women in India get breast cancer leading to 30,000 deaths.

Outlining some of the milestones reached, Chawla says the first  was setting up a  Therapy Wing in Sri Guru Ramdas Rotary Cancer Hospital in Amritsar. About 20 million people were without this facility. The second a treatment room in St. Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, London. Another was the launching of the first ever fully equipped Mobile Breast Cancer Detection Unit for the diverse communities in India.

His vision is to spread his campaign to each and every part of India and globally, to reach  women who are mothers, wives and daughters and save them from this deadly disease.

Those interested to donate can contact Paramjit Singh who represents the Turst in California at:  714 – 736 - 9951. For  further details visit: www.rokocancer.org