A thalassemia awareness campaign was held at the Women’s College, Calcutta recently. It was organised jointly by the NSS unit of the College in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Calcutta, Avyanna.
Dr Shashi Panja, State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, is the chief patron of the 89-year-old college.
Bapi Ghosh, councillor of ward 7 and member of the backward and minority class who has worked tirelessly to spread awareness on Thalassemia for the past 25 years, was present at the function. Mr Ghosh runs an NGO called Amar Adhikar related with the project. He spoke in detail about the necessity of thalassemia awareness.
6 to 10 per cent of the population in Bengal are carriers of the thalassemia gene.
Dr Anupama Chowdhury, principal of the college, said the college works for the holistic development of all, including every stakeholder and the society at large. The programme was a huge success with the participation of more than 189 members, including students, parents and other stakeholders.
Dr Baisakhi Das Saha, NSS Convenor, spoke on empowerment through such an awareness campaign.
Dr Pradip Mitra, former Director of Medical Education, government of West Bengal and the former director of SSKM Hospital, spoke at length on the medical perspectives and promised to organise a free thalassemia testing session for the willing students.
Dr Narayan Dhar Chowdhury, formerly in the West Bengal medical service and now associated with different medical colleges across the state, spoke on medical and scientific approaches in dealing with thalassemia.
Dr Jayanta Das, doctor of critical care medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospital, London, also participated in the discussion.
Sarmistha Das, president of Rotary Club of Calcutta, Avyanna and Sandip Banerjee, district secretary of Rotary Club, spoke on the occasion. Other rotarians and guardians of the students also spoke at the meeting.
WCC holds programmes throughout the year to make the students aware of various social issues. Recently, the college hosted a programme where poets and scholars across the globe took part.