Shillong, Dec 15: Health Minister James P K Sangma on Thursday inaugurated the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) -funded, Civil Hospital Cancer wing and also launched the Meghalaya Mission Cancer Prevention and Early Detection.
Stating that cancer is like a death sentence for many people, the moral comes down and sadness seeps in to any individual who is told has cancer, he said, “This disease is dreaded and needs special care and there is a need to move towards preventive measures and a lot of science is there which is working on that”.
“We want to take the bull by its horn we just don’t want to treat but also how to prevent it,” he added.
Reminding that an MoU has been signed with the with Apollo group sponsored by world economic forum,, he said this will go longway in tackling this disease and the first cancer care project will be associated will work in tandem with the cancer wing.
Pointing out that cancer treatment takes a long time, he said a dedicated approach is required and that is why the First Cancer Care (FCC) is brought about for early detection and treatment which will make a huge impact and increase the level of survivors.
The government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Apollo Telehealth Foundation,paving the way for the First Cancer Care in Meghalaya.
He also announced that the population based Cancer registry will be established very soon all over the State.
“Such interventions will enable us to tackle and substantially bring down cancer in a focused manner and will help our state which has the highest number of cancer cases,” he added.
He said the government will keep on upgrading and upscaling so that the fight against cancer will be collective.
According to him, initiatives like- the village health council is a remarkable thing and will play an integral role in reaching out to rural masses where a lot of cases are coming up from.
Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Meghalaya, Ramkumar S said in view of the high rate of cancer in the State, this wing will play an important role. He said It should be beyond the center of therapy and more than being a treatment place it is going to be a place of research study and capacity building.
Principal Secretary Health, Sampath Kumar said that the State government is thinking how cancer can be preventive and are creating support system for those affected but more importantly how to prevent..
Referring to the population based data, on the Cancer registry of the State, he said the disease will increase.
Talking about the preventive measures, he said a massive life style change is required in the community.
On initiative taken by the government to combat the disease, he said the Government is laying special emphasis on the health sector and has come with the health policy besides concepts like elected village health councils, Meghalaya medical services recruitment board and the positive results will soon be started showing in years to come.
He informed that in the next three years, the government intends to screen the entire public of East Khasi Hills district.
He also informed that the State government is asking the DAE to go for the second phase of the cancer wing and expand the infrastructure.
Funded by the DAE, the cancer wing project was set in motion in 2008. The foundation stone was laid by former chief minister, Mukul Sangma on March 7, 2011.