Lisa will next be seen in a romantic musical film Ishq Forever. PHOTO: FILE
“It’s also the media’s responsibility to start promoting a more accurate picture of what cancer is. There is so much misinformation out there that it’s just shocking,” she said. “And that’s one of the reasons that motivated me to talk about it openly because in India, we still have this incredible fear factor around cancer,” she added.
“A lot of people hear cancer and they hear death. That’s not true — not always and not necessarily, not with the kind of treatment that we have, not with preventative measures,” said Lisa, who was the chief guest at the fourth Indian Breast Cancer Survivors Conference on Monday. Actor-producer Malaika Arora Khan was also present on the occasion.
Lisa Ray on embracing one’s self
Lisa was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer in 2009, which is a rare disease and considered incurable. But in 2010, she was declared a cancer survivor having improved her health tremendously and announcing to the world that she is ‘cancer-free’.
“But this requires a real, concentrated kind of awareness programme and we can’t do this without the press. The point is to run the story and change people’s perceptions. We’re really trying to promote real change here.”
Lisa feels that women, who are at the heart of a family in India, always put themselves last when they are ill. “We need to promote a very positive view, not sugar-coated, but with support you can get through it. And it shouldn’t at least become an uphill battle when you’re dealing with financial problems and people’s perceptions,” she added.
On the professional front, Lisa will next be seen in a romantic musical film Ishq Forever.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2015.
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