Oral Cancer Screening
India carries roughly a third of the world's oral cancer burden. Found early it is usually survivable. Found late it usually is not.
What this programme is
Oral cancer is close to the ideal disease for a screening programme: the tissue is directly visible, the risk factors are known, the early signs are learnable, and the survival difference between stage I and stage IV is enormous.
And yet most Indian cases are diagnosed late — not because the signs were subtle, but because nobody was looking. This programme exists to look.
Every time we run it
- Systematic visual and tactile examination of the entire oral cavity, tongue, floor of mouth and neck nodes
- Priority screening in tobacco, gutkha, areca nut and heavy alcohol-using populations
- Documented photography of any suspicious lesion, with consent, for specialist review
- A defined referral pathway to a tertiary cancer centre, with a seven-day target from red flag to appointment
- Active follow-up by phone until the person actually attends — this is the part that saves lives
- Tobacco cessation counselling and referral offered to every user, without lecturing
Three main hosts
Tobacco-belt communities
Screening drives targeted where chewing tobacco and areca nut use is highest.
Industrial & construction workforces
Populations with high use and almost no routine health contact.
Anyone over 30
Included as standard in every other IDE Smilez programme, at no extra cost.
Four steps on the ground
Teach the signs
Everyone at the camp learns the five warning signs before being screened — so they can check themselves and their family later.
Screen systematically
A standard sequence, the same every time. Ad-hoc looking misses lesions.
Flag and photograph
Suspicious findings are documented and escalated the same day.
Chase relentlessly
We call, we call again, and we call the family. Referral without follow-up is paperwork.
Where this programme stands
Bring Oral Cancer Screening to your community
Tell us where you are and roughly how many people. Our outreach lead replies within two working days.