The World Cancer Day is celebrated every year on February 4. The day is observed as an international event to raise the awareness of cancer and encourage its prevention.
The theme for World Cancer Day 2021 is ‘I Am and I Will.’ This year is a reminder of the enduring power of cooperation and collective action.
It is a global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). Recent studies estimate about one out of six people worldwide died from cancer that’s more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.
Here’s all you need to know about ‘Cancer Train’ in India
The Abohar-Jodhpur Express train, popularly known as ‘cancer train’, is a lifeline for hundreds of cancer patients of Malwa region of Punjab.
The train leaves Bhatinda around 9.25 pm and covers a distance of about 325 km to reach Bikaner in Rajasthan around 6 am.
The passengers in the train are mostly cancer patients who travel to Bikaner (Rajasthan) for treatment in Acharya Tulsi Regional Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.
The train would leave Abohar (Punjab) every day carrying patients, mostly small farmers from Punjab’s cotton belt — Mansa, Bathinda, Faridkot, Sangrur, Moga, Muktsar, Ferozepur and Fazilka.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘cancer train’ has been lying suspended since the lockdown was imposed in March 2020.
Earlier, the ticket was priced at Rs 210, but for cancer patients, the eight-hour journey to Bikaner was free. One accompanying attendant got a concession of 75 per cent.
On average, the train was the lifeline of 100 cancer patients daily along with 200 other co-travellers. This 12-coach train has gained its name from a sudden increase in cancer cases in Punjab that many blame on pesticide use, growing pollution and hardly any response by authorities.