Olympian Abhinav Bindra creates awareness on cancer - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra flagged off a cancer awareness walkathon here on Wednesday to educate people about the disease. The event was organized by a volunteer organization, 'Cancer Sahayta Sahyog.' Bindra stressed on the need to create awareness about the dreaded disease. "Awareness is everything in prevention. So awareness is very, very important and it's one of the key elements towards a fight against a disease like cancer," said Bindra. Scores of people from different walks of life participated in the walkathon. "What has happed today is very important. Youth can play an important role in the elimination of cancer. Campaigns like this will create awareness among people, which will help in the cause," said Shayda Kohli, a participant. According to the WHO reports, over 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year, with 800,000 cases being reported in India alone. Cancer causes seven million deaths every year- or 12.5 percent of deaths worldwide.