a mattress near the window, though there was a bed along the wall on the left. There were a several men in the room. I could not figure out who they were, but seemingly they might be his relatives or friends. As soon as we entered the room, more people joined in. I felt nervous about the atmosphere. With so many strangers it did not seem right to talk about some private affairs. However, Aziz did not care about those people and disclosed that he was suffering from lung cancer. He added that his three brothers had already died from lung cancer and he was scheduled to take chemotherapy from tomorrow. Dr. Ekhlasur said that he would like to see if chemotherapy was the best treatment for Aziz and asked him to show his X-ray film and other medical reports. Milon, Aziz‘s son, followed us to the outside of the hospital building to see us off. While he entreated us saying, ―Please save my father‘s life‖, I observed black spots on his chest. Milon, too, though still young, had arsenicosis symptoms. In the evening Aziz‘s X-ray film and various medical reports were delivered to YDFH. Dr. Ekhlasur examined them together with Dr. Asif, pulmonologist or expert of respiratory medicine. They came to the conclusion that operation was not possible. Cancer had infested the base of the lung and operation would only spread cancer. On the following day, we called at Naznur Hospital again, though reluctantly. Dr. Ekhlasur recommended Aziz to take chemotherapy as planned. Aziz agreed. Then he turned his eyes to me and said in English, ―Will you give me financial support?‖ I had anticipated that such a request would be coming forth, but without any concrete plan I shrank back. If chemotherapy were needed for a long time, the fund for medical support would run out quickly. The fund consists of donations of citizens in Japan. Some people may criticize me for allocating a huge amount of money to only one patient. In front of the patient shuddered with fear of lung cancer, however, it was difficult for me to utter a cold word. Dr. Ekhlasur told me that about Taka 50,000 would be necessary for a cycle of chemotherapy. I proposed that AAN would bear 50% of the medicine cost required for this cycle of chemotherapy. In middle of February 2006, we received a batch of receipts from Aziz. His medical expenses amounted to almost Taka 110,000, of which Taka 56,248 was spent for medicines. Dr. Ekhlasur kindly took the trouble of going through his medicine
bills and sorted out that the total cost of medicines for chemotherapy was Taka 41,689. AAN provided Aziz with Taka 21,000. ●Mafiqul Islam, Azagora Village,Chandpur District One late afternoon of a cold cloudy day in mid-December 2005, a man called at our office in Dhaka accompanied by a lock mechanic who had done some work for us a couple of months ago. The mechanic said: ―Having seen the photographs of arsenicosis symptoms on your wall, I thought you might be able to help him. He is from my village, Azagora, in Chandpur‖. The mechanic added that there were many patients like him in Azagora. On shaking hands with the man, I realized he was suffering from arsenicosis. His hand was warty. He, Mafiqul Islam, 35 years of age, showed us various medical reports, one of which was a radiotherapy completion certificate issued by the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Mafiqul explained that skin lesions started to appear five to six years ago. First he went to see a village doctor. The doctor diagnosed his symptoms as skin disease but could do nothing saying that he had never seen such symptoms. Having visited many doctors and hospitals, including DMCH, he came to know that he was suffering from arsenicosis and it was due to arsenic in tube well water. Then he switched his drinking water source to pond in the hope of getting better. The tube well water which he had been drinking since his childhood, was painted red a couple of years ago during the national screening. The Data Book Vol. 2, issued in October 2003 by the National Arsenic Mitigation Information Centre (NAMIC) under the Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation W