British Deputy High Commissioner visits KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases

Hyderabad, Jan 13: British Deputy High Commissioner to India, Christina Scott on Friday visited KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases and was all praise for its director consultant surgeon Dr P. Raghuram.

Accompanied by British Deputy High Commissioner to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and Gareth Owens, Scott commended Dr Raghu Ram for being a living bridge between the UK and India and replicating the best of British practices to improve breast healthcare in India.

"What he has achieved in a decade and a half is phenomenal and it is in recognition of his immense body of work that Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed him as OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of British Empire), which is the second highest-ranking Order of the British Empire award (excluding a knighthood) for his outstanding services towards improving breast cancer care and surgical education in India and to UK-India relations," she said.

Dr B. Bhaskar Rao, Chairman & Managing Director of KIMS Hospitals said he gave a free hand to Dr Raghu Ram to develop a world class breast Centre and he achieved much more than what he promised when he met him 15 years ago.

"Due to lack of awareness and absence of a robust population based screening programme, more than 70 per cent of women with breast cancer were in the advanced stages with consequently poor survival. I wanted to make a difference to these statistics in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh," said Dr Raghu Ram.

He said since relocation from the UK to India in 2007, he had been working to ensure early detection of breast cancer by transforming breast cancer from a taboo issue to a much commonly discussed one through a number of innovative initiatives. This most certainly ensures long term survival from the most common cancer affecting women in the country.

His initiatives include establishing South Asia's' first dedicated comprehensive Breast Health Centre at KIMS Hospitals, founding a "not for profit" Breast Cancer Charity to raise awareness about the importance of early detection, spearheading South Asia's largest population based Breast Cancer Screening Programme in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and playing a pivotal role in the formation of The Association of Breast Surgeons of India - a dedicated organisation that brings together surgeons practicing the art and science of breast surgery under one platform.