Indian doctor gets scholarship on Cancer research at France

Updated on: Thursday, September 08, 2011

A doctor from predominantly tribal region of Thane district in Maharashtra has been selected for a month-long scholarship on Cancer research at France.

Incidentally Dr Avinash D Bhagwat is the only doctor from the Maharashtra Public Health department to be selected for the fellowship with 20 candidates from other states.

The extensive training on Cancer research will be held at the International agency for research on cancer at Lyon, France and is being co-coordinated by the WHO as a part of its programme of training the medical professionals in the specialised medical fields.

Bhagwat said he was thankful to the Health department to have chosen him from among the thousands in the health care field for the most important training.

He said he can put to practice the knowledge he gains from the specialised training to serve the down-trodden curing them of killer cancer disease.

Bhagwat has been serving in the tribal Mokhada taluka here for long, which has seen numerous malnutrition deaths.

He has also served in Primary Health Centre at Khodala, Washala and later Kalyan, (Dahagaon) and finally landed in the pa-Anjur PHC of the Bhiwandi taluka.

His services as the Medical officer and providing the best of health care facilities for tribals has earned him this distinction for being picked up for the prestigious training.

He has won laurels for the not much known 'Dohala-Jevan' project, feeding pregnant women from rural areas with nutritious food.

As a result not only hundreds of pregnant women have been benefited but also the percentage of institutional delivery has increased and the mortality rate decreased.

Under the programme, a brain child of Bhagwat, pregnant women from villages are invited for a special lunch and in the programme itself they are educated about benefits of taking due care during pregnancy, its complications and post delivery facts.

Bhagwat himself comes from a very poor family and his parents used to work on daily wages in Bheta village of Ausa taluka of Latur district.

He completed his studies facing heavy odds to become the medical officer in the district and has been serving the rural population for more than 12 years.

Indian doctor gets scholarship on Cancer research at France

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