A march to create awareness about breast cancer and resultant female mortality was organised in Amritsar today.

People from various walks of life converged on the streets of the Holy City, under the aegis of MKC Roko Cancer Charitable Trust. Experts accompanying the participants said incidences of breast cancer were gaining alarming proportions in India, particularly Punjab.

Sporting banners and placards, the activists of MKC, along with students and teachers from various educational institutions, medical students, doctors and general public, started the march from Khalsa College for Boys.

A function was later held at BBK DAV College for Women, where plays were staged, stressing the need for early detection of the disease.

Ajinder Pal Singh Chawla, chairman, MKC Roko Cancer Charitable Trust, said that as per a survey conducted in 2002, more than 80,000 cases of breast cancer are reported in India every year.

“Thirty per cent of affected women in India die every year due to breast cancer. A majority of these cases are from Punjab,” he said. He maintained that while in Western countries the base line for contracting the disease was 45 years, in India it was 35 years.