BHUBANESWAR: If everything falls in place, the district headquarters hospitals (DHHs) of Nuapada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Balangir and Nabarangpur would start offering chemotherapy free of charges along with diagnostic and investigation services for cancer patients by March next year. Fully equipped cancer-treatment cells with trained manpower in doctors and paramedics would be set up in the DHHs as the State Government is in the process of expanding the implementation of the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) to operationalise the cancer care component. What would come as a boon to the poor people suffering from cancer is that the chemotherapy would be offered free, with the NPCDCS programme taking care of the entire cost of drugs. Patients receiving chemotherapy at the day-care centre of the cancer-treatment cells would be allotted ` 1 lakh for around five rounds. Each district hospital would be provided with support for about 100 patients in a year. The centres would have four beds in the Medicine speciality of the DHHs and manned by a medical officer assisted by trained doctors and paramedics. The doctors drawn from the district in the areas covered under NPCDCS programme will be receiving training in oncology and chemotherapy administration through special capsule courses designed by the Acharya Harihar Cancer Research Centre (AHRCC), Cuttack. The training is expected to commence by December-end. The focus would be on getting doctors with specialisation in Radiotherapy from the peripheral hospitals to man the units. “The objective is to provide cancer services to the patients at their doorstep, so that they do not have to travel to the AHRCC to receive chemotherapy,” State Programme Officer for NPCDCS PKB Patnaik said. He added that specialists trained in oncology and posted at the DHHs would not only administer chemotherapy but also play a pivotal role in screening people for symptoms so as to boost early detection and control of the dreaded disease. The Government is in the process of procuring equipment and readying infrastructure for the cells, which when operational would provide diagnostic services, chemotherapy facilities as well as basic cancer surgery too. They would also offer pain and palliative care to patients in advanced stages of cancer as well as other terminal illnesses so that they are spared of the acute sufferings associated with the diseases. The NPCDCS implementation in the five districts presently covers diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and geriatric ailments. With inclusion of cancer, the programme would be expansive as non-communicable diseases are rising at an alarming rate and projected to account for nine out of 10 deaths by 2020. The remaining 25 districts would be brought under the programme during the 12th Plan period.
Comments
0 comment