SHILLONG:
The outpatient department (OPD) for cancer patients in the Shillong Civil Hospital will be shifted to the cancer wing on its premises once the repair work is done while the radiotherapy facility will be shifted after new machines are installed.
A senior oncologist at the hospital told The Meghalayan that indoor oncology and the day-care chemotherapy facilities have already been shifted.
It has been a long wait since the foundation stone for the cancer wing was laid in March 2011.
There was a delay in the project in the past due to multiple issues which the government has addressed.
“The cancer wing was ready in 2019 and we were supposed to shift, but then the pandemic struck and the facility was used for Covid patients,” she said. The Oncology Department has now taken over the wing.
Referring to this year’s theme — “Close the care gap”– on World Cancer Day on Friday, he said keeping in line with it the health department is making all efforts to give cancer patients the best treatment facilities in the state itself.
“We are in the process of providing the best treatment facilities with the state-of-the-art radiotherapy equipment and cancer care in the hospital,” she said, not wishing to be named.
At present the hospital has a cobalt-therapy machine which treats 70-80 patients per day.
“Additionally, we will be getting the linear accelerator and CT simulator. Phase-wise, we will be getting other machines also,” she said.
The Civil Hospital is the only hospital with radiation facility in the state. “We are managing chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery and pain and palliative care of the cancer patients,” she said.
“Chemotherapy is being provided free by the government. Patients in the past would have to spend around Rs 10,000-20,000 per cycle. Some drugs, which may not be available, are purchased by the patients and the cost is reimbursed from the MHIS or
the hospital purchases the medicines for the patients from the MHIS funds,” the doctor said.
If a patient has to go for any cancer treatment outside the state, it could entail a minimum cost of Rs 50,000 while the maximum could go to Rs 20-Rs 30 lakh depending on the type of cancer and treatment.
The doctor said whilecardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally now, WHO has predicted that in future cancer will be among the leading causes.
“That is why we are ramping up our set-up and conducting awareness camps, tobacco control programmes, screening programmes and upgrading our cancer facility.” the doctor said.
“All our healthcare workers are being gradually trained for screening of cancers. We are trying hard to detect cancer early so that it can be cured and we can reduce our cancer mortality,” she said.
According to Indian Council of Medical Research National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (ICMR NCDIR) 2021 data, East Khasi Hills district ranks 2nd among males and 11th among females in the country for cancer patients.
The doctor said that the state holds the first place in tobacco-related cancer with East Khasi Hills district leading the other districts as per the report of the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) 2012-16 where 70.4 per cent cancers in males and 46.5 per cent cancers in females are related to tobacco use.
“We see many school-going children and teenagers on the street smoking and taking smokeless tobacco in the form of gutka , khaini, pan masala etc . Secondly, I can say that some of our food habits also have high chances of cancer. In the North Eastern region, we consume red meat regularly along with smoked and fermented food which has a role to play in the cancer cycle,” she said.
The number of indoor patients admitted in the Oncology Ward of the hospital between April 2021 and December 2021 was
9810, while it was 14,186 in 2020-2021, and 13,664 in 2019-2020. In 2018-2019 it was 15, 490, in 2017-2018 it was 16,302 and in 2016-2017 it was 18,351.