The year 2020 is declared as the Year Of Youth  (YOY) in Tamil Nadu Church. This was solemnly inaugurated in Salem Diocese on 12.01.2010. Youth representing all the parishes of Salem actively participated in the inauguration of the YOY.  Diocesan Youth Commission Secretary Rev.Fr. Stephen Soruphan had organised various motivation programmes on that day. The youth are sensitised to sideline vested interest forces with ideological differences who try to use youth as pawns in dividing the social fabric of our society. 570 youth were present on this occasion.

As Youth Commission and Salem social Service Society (SSSS) are working in tandem, this opportunity was capitalised by SSSS to take across the concept of Ezhuvom Iyakkam  Cancer Care Campaign among the youth and make them campaign ambassadors. Hence the Campaign was officially launched in Salem Diocese by Most. Rev. S. Singaroyan, Bishop of Salem in the presence of Fr.M.Rajamanickam, Secretary – Commission for Justice, Peace & Development (SSSS) , Fr. Stephen, Secretary- Commission for Youth and  Dr. John Arokiaraj, Manager, Caritas India.

While inaugurating the campaign, Bishop Singaroyan explained how we must become a ‘change’ if we want to bring change in the society. “Everything starts from within” and celebrate the differences and be interested in the wellness of fellow brethren he insisted. The event was marked by orientation on campaign concept, awareness talks, distribution of pamphlets, special address by Bishop and cultural procession followed by Eucharistic celebration.

Dr. John shared some vital statistics on Cancer (2018)  among the young participants. He said that the cancer burden in India is already high and is expected to rise even more with increasing life expectancy and changes in lifestyles associated with economic development. India tops the list of young nations with 356 million young people as the country of the world’s largest youth population.  He continued saying that one woman dies of cervical cancer every 8 minutes in India; For every 2 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, one woman dies of it in India; Mortality due to tobacco use in India is estimated at upwards of 3500 persons every day; Tobacco (smoked and smokeless) use accounted for 3,17,928 deaths in men and women in 2018. If youth start addressing this issue of cancer collectively, they will become a great force to reckon with.

Fr.Rajamanickam said that it is the desire of SSSS to establish “Cancer Free Salem” and all its future efforts will be oriented towards this mission. By joining hands  with Youth Commission, we plan to “Empower youth to end cancer”. Youth are being registered as volunteers and they will become our ambassadors for our campaign, he said with confidence. He also organised  staff orientation on 13/01/2020 to bring clarity on aligning Key Strategic Pillars of Caritas India, Cancer Care Campaign and Lenten Campaign. Together with youth commission, event calendar with specific strategies for the year 2020 is being planned.