Department of Community Oncology has a major and very important role to play for cancer awareness and education in cancer prevention and early detection. Department gives special focus on following services:

Hospital Based Cancer Registry has been working since 1972. Under the network of National Cancer Registry Programme-Indian Council of Medical Research, two Population Based Cancer Registries (i) Rural Cancer Registry –Ahmedabad district from 2004 and (ii) Ahmedabad Urban Agglomeration Area from 2007 are functioning.

Main objective of this activity is to educate people about cancer, its causes, prevention, early detection and tobacco hazards. Exhibition, street play, lectures, audio-visual shows, celebration of various festivals like Kite Flying Day, Holi, Rakshabandhan are organized to create awareness regarding cancer and tobacco hazards in the community. Many NGOs, schools and industries are requesting for organizing such awareness activity.

Department is actively involved in organizing community based cancer screening programme involving primary health care facilities and the grass root level organizations. The trust should be on prevention and early detection of oral, breast and cervical cancer. “Sanjeevani Rath” is a mobile screening unit, which is equipped with a mammography and ultra-sonography machine for breast screening in remote area. Doctors and Para-medical staff from surgical, gynecology and radiology department are part of this noble community services. Special training sessions for cancer screening is also conducted for medical and paramedical staff.

At present three cancer satellite centers I) Government Hospital, Sidhpur II) Dr. Rasiklal Sarvjanik Hospital, Modasa III) Santokba Hospital, Dholka centres are working in close coordination with GCRI. The main objective is to develop capacity building at these centres in the field of cancer care. One cancer surgeon and one field worker from GCRI are visiting these centres every alternate Saturday and providing services through available existing facilities.

Department is working on annual statistics for GCRI and providing data to government as and when required. Academic staffs from GCRI are getting data and analysis work for their dissertation / research work.