It was definitely a news of great pride and happiness to learn about the development of a technology capable of detecting cancer cells in a human body by physicists at the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet. According to reports, the developed device can detect cancer cells in just five minutes and at a cost as low as Tk. 500 only. The device could be a big relief for the cancer suspected people.
The team of physicists at the university certainly deserves kudos for their remarkable innovation. Reportedly, it was the result of long drawn experiments but more importantly, it was the result of strong commitment to bring about a solution to a key medical challenge.
For quite some time, cancer has been a mind-boggling challenge in the worldwide health sector. World Health Organisation (WHO) brackets cancer as the second leading cause of deaths globally, after heart diseases and stroke. More worrying is their finding that about 70 per cent of the deaths due to cancer occur in developing or under-developed countries. The main reasons are, of course, late diagnosis and inaccessibility to proper treatment.
In a country like ours with such a huge population, prevalence of cancer obviously merits to be a matter of deep concern. While awareness about the risk factors being at very low ebb, lack of facilities for detection of the killer disease is a clear and dominant cause. It is said that there are about 15 to 17 cancer patients in the country. This figure is only about the reported cases. Dearth of diagnostic facilities along with lack of expert physicians keeps away tens of thousands others. One of the main reasons in this regard has been the cost and of course, along with it the length of time or the process to detect the disease. Cancer readily meant a high cost affair-from detection to treatment. Perhaps that is why people in the country have been venturing to go abroad like India, Singapore and elsewhere for dealing with cancer.
Globally, there has been a remarkable progress in cancer treatment. In most cases, cancer is now more curable than ever before. However, the major component remains in its early detection. Curative treatment may not be effective if there is delay in diagnosis. The recent innovation by physicists at the Shahjalal University can bring some solace to the people in terms of cost and the process of diagnosis.
Definitely the SUST innovation of device to deal with this challenging health menace would add value to the global efforts in this regard. It would also reduce the gap between the developed countries those in the under-developed map. The success stories of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research Bangladesh (ICDDRB) in the country in researching and coping with the diarrhoeal diseases already brought relief and fame.
More importantly, with this noble effort to reduce mortality due to cancer, the latest innovation can be a good contributor to the quest for achieving a key UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) --- good health and well being of the humanity. The government and international organisations like WHO must incentivize these talented physicists of the university in Sylhet. Bravo, the physicists of SUST!
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