Keeping a lid on cancer in Sri Lanka
From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
When the Rotary Club of Colombo, Sri Lanka, launched the National Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Center in 2004, the clinic operated in a small, rented house staffed by a volunteer doctor and two nurses. Services were basic but effective – physical exams and ultrasound to detect breast cancer and Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer. All services were free, and word spread fast among the lower-income patients the center hoped to attract. Run in partnership with the National Cancer Control Programme of the government’s Ministry of Health,…