‘Death invokes fear, not awareness!’

Poonam Pandey

A colleague in the mid-day newsroom put it correctly when she said that if starlet Poonam Pandey had simply announced that she has opted to take the human papillomavirus vaccine, it would've been a more effective way to raise awareness around cervical cancer, which killed close to 78,000 Indian women in 2020.

Instead, the model-actress chose to pull off a death stunt. On Saturday morning, social media was crackling with outrage as netizens expressed shock, disbelief and disgust at being "betrayed".

On Friday, an Instagram post by her publicity team announcing her death due to cervical cancer led to speculation and gossip amid earnest outpouring of grief on social media. With no information about where she was being treated or passed away, or the announcement of a funeral, people were puzzled about her sudden and mysterious death, later also confirmed by her sister. By Friday evening, the sister and family were incommunicado even as television stations tried to pin the location of a possible funeral in her hometown of Kanpur.

Alka Bisen, Shardul Pandit and Viji Venkatesh, cancer care advocate and activist

Expectedly, on Saturday morning, Pandey posted a video. stating that she is in fact, alive. In the video, created in association with media company Hauterrfly, Pandey said, "I feel compelled to share something significant with you all - I am here, alive. Cervical cancer didn't claim me, but tragically, it has claimed the lives of thousands of women who stemmed from a lack of knowledge on how to tackle this disease."

In a follow-up video, the actress apologised for having hurt public sentiment but expressed no regret because awareness for cervical cancer "needed that spotlight". "The sheer lack of awareness surrounding this issue was the mere reason that compelled me to take this unconventional step," she said, remarking that the HPV vaccine was highlighted in Friday's Union Budget but only a fraction of Indians may have taken note.

No one was convinced, though.

Those who had offered heartfelt condolences - including top Bollywood celebrities - only 24 hours ago, were now frothing at the mouth at having falling for a gimmick. "F''king cheap publicity stunt. You guys think it's funny? You and your PR team should be boycotted, I swear. Bloody losers!" wrote television star Aly Goni.

Shardul Pandit, who claims to be a friend of Pandey's, was upset that she had played with his emotions. "I feel stupid today. When I got a call about her demise, I rang up common friends because her number wasn't available. If I were in Mumbai, I would have gone to her house," he told mid-day. Pandit had, in fact, defended her even as people responded to his Instagram story with vile comments. "Then I saw Poonam's post [on Saturday] morning, and I was shocked. Some people probably knew that it was a campaign for cervical cancer, but her close friends, fans, and the media weren't aware. Cancer is personal to me. I lost my mother to cancer, and it triggered helplessness in me. Whoever thought that this idea would make for a brilliant campaign [is a fool]," said Pandit, who spoke to this writer while on a shoot in Dubai.

Fork Media Group, Hauterrfly's parent company, claimed the decision was taken with the right intent. mid-day spoke to Jasleen Gupta, business head, Xtra, Fork Media Group, who claimed there was no personal gain, and the idea was not backed by any brand, and no money was exchanged.

"This [campaign plan] happened four months ago. We knew there would be backlash. We knew people would hate her, but the number of people talking about cervical cancer has gone up. I am seeing a lot of articles and news publications covering it, which is what we wanted. The website PoonamPandeyIsAlive has a lot of information [on cervical cancer]," Gupta said, adding that their hearts were in "the right place".

"People are saying that it was the wrong path to have taken. Obviously, we were not [trying to] hurt people. A lot of people don't know this, but Poonam's own mother suffered from cancer, so she is not heartless. In fact, that was one of the reasons she agreed," Gupta said, adding that the company consulted doctors and
cancer survivors.

Those who have dedicated their lives to raising awareness around cancer believe the campaign trivialised the struggle of survivors and their families. Viji Venkatesh, cancer care advocate, activist and regional head of the Max Foundation in South Asia, said the campaign's target audience was off. "First of all, how many people know this person [Pandey]? Who is the audience for this ‘campaign'? And did this really cause ‘awareness' - about the disease, its risk factors, prevalence? Incidence? Prevention? No! The announcement [someone brought it to my attention] seemed very improbable to me, and while I may have felt bad about the demise of a young person, I am afraid it did not ring true at all. [It was done] in very poor taste and with great insensitivity. I do not think that the end justifies the means."

Anita Verma was diagnosed with cervical cancer and survived the 1B stage. "Death isn't a joke. If she wanted to promote World Cancer Day, which is on February 4, and alert the public about it, that's all right. But to use death for promotion is wrong. Death scares people."

A Lancet study released in December 2022 announced that India had the highest number of cervical cancer cases in Asia, and of 40 per cent of total deaths from the disease, 23 per cent occurred in India.

Caused by certain carcinogenic strains of the human papillomavirus, which is sexually transmitted, cervical cancer spirals due to ignoring symptoms and poor awareness, especially in backward regions of the country, where sexual hygiene isn't a priority and women have scant access to screening and reproductive healthcare services.

Alka Bisen, CEO, Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA), said the campaign strategy was off the mark. The non-profit lead a campaign to fight the spiralling rise of infections. They have been doing HPV screening for over three decades, but recently they also began screening healthy individuals in vulnerable groups like sex workers, rag pickers and manual labourers. She said awareness is best created by NGOs, general practitioners, and gynaecologists. "It could also be part of the school curriculum from Class 8 to 10, to make kids aware that you're going to be out there in the world, and this is something that you can safeguard yourself from. It's like what we do for tobacco," she said.

Celebs respond to Pandey's campaign

Ekta Kapoor: The company that encouraged such an insensitive campaign should be sued

Pooja Bhatt: I never delete tweets, but I did so in the case where I expressed my shock at news of Poonam Pandey's demise due to cervical cancer. Why? It turns out the news was engineered by a digital/PR team. Absolute disgrace and disservice to those battling the same - her included.