Chandigarh And Punjab To ‘Go Gold’ For Kids Suffering From Cancer

Starting September 24th, eight cancer survivors are going to travel across 18 districts of Punjab, a distance of 1400 kms, to raise awareness about prevention of childhood cancer and to collect 300,000 signatures, to be able to appeal to the Prime Minister to make pediatric cancer a childhood priority.

Led by 17 year old Muskaan, a bone tumor survivor, a team of volunteers even visited Punjab Governor V.S. Badnore to seek support for the cause. She had earlier led a team of volunteers to meet Punjab Governor V.S. Badnore and pinned a gold ribbon on his shirt to seek support for the cause. Cankids, an NGO that is a major supporter of the cause has previously held similar “Go Gold” childhood cancer awareness rallies in many other states. To raise awareness in Punjab, ‘Cankids’ will stage street plays, distribute pamphlets and literature related to early signs of cancer and centers for early detection and treatment. “September is childhood awareness month during which Punjab is going gold, gold being the color of childhood cancer. The gold ribbon honors children with cancer and their families and pledges support for it to be a health priority” shares Poonam Bagai, the director of Cankids.It is estimated that Punjab accounts for 969 to the 1543 new cases of childhood cancer reported each year. Last year the Taj went Gold to speak for children with cancer and this year it will be the Golden Temple as these young fighters are advocating for childhood cancer to be child health priority in India.