Shillong Civil Hospital cancer care wing inaugurated, another proposed in Tura

SHILLONG, Dec 15: Health Minister James PK Sangma on Thursday inaugurated the cancer care wing of the Civil Hospital, Shillong, albeit after a delay of over nine years.
However, some equipment is yet to be installed. Some posts are also to be filled in.
“We have inaugurated the cancer care wing. We are also moving towards establishing a similar kind of a thing in Tura and the work has started,” Sangma told reporters.
“We hope by next year, we will be able to establish one there as well. We are talking to the government of India for necessary funding,” he said.
Asked if the state government intends to set up a cancer care wing in all districts, he said, “As of now, the only proposal is to have one in Garo Hills. Screening facilities will be in all the districts, but the cancer care wing will be just in Shillong and Tura for now.”
Earlier, while addressing the gathering, he said cancer treatment takes a long time. He said as a dedicated approach is required, the First Cancer Care (FCC) is brought about for early detection and treatment. It will work in tandem with the cancer wing and make a huge impact, he said.
The government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Apollo Telehealth Foundation and it paved the way for the FCC.
“Such interventions will enable us to tackle and substantially bring down cancer in a focused manner and help our state which has the highest number of cancer cases,” Sangma said.
He said the government will keep on upgrading and upscaling to ensure the fight against cancer is collective.
According to him, initiatives, such as the village health council, is a remarkable thing and it will play an integral role in reaching out to rural areas where a lot of cases are coming up from. He announced that the population-based cancer registry will be established very soon all over the state.
Meghalaya holds the first place in the country in tobacco-related cancer. The state holds the 2nd place among males and 11th among females.
National Health Mission, Meghalaya Mission Director, Ramkumar S said the cancer care wing should be beyond a center of therapy and treatment. It is going to be a place of research, study and capacity building, he said.
Principal Secretary of Health Sampath Kumar said the state government is thinking how cancer can be preventive and creating the support system for those affected. Referring to the population-based data on cancer registry, he said the disease will increase.
The cancer care wing will install various state of the art equipment for internal and external radiation. However, many of these are yet to be installed for reasons including delay in the tendering process.
The cancer wing has separate wards for male and female with 50 and 25 beds respectively. The rest is used for day care facilities.
“We are already equipped here with surgical work being handled by NEIGRIHMS and radiation therapy by Civil Hospital. Right now, we have an old machine but we are still treating 70-80% cases with its help,” a health official said.
He said the tendering for the machine has been done by Mumbai-based Tata Memorial Hospital but it is taking time as it also tenders for other institutes.
“Hopefully, if things go smoothly, we should be getting our radiotherapy machines within eight to nine months,” the official said, adding the department is also trying to recruit a radiation oncologist and the interview is slated within two days.
“With all the machines, we should be equipped to handle the cancer burden, predicted to be increasing in the next one year,” the official said.
“NEIGRIHMS is a partner in the fight against cancer. It installed its radiotherapy machine recently and started treatment. We are collaborating. I think both the institutes can handle the state’s cancer burden,” the official said.
Meanwhile, America Bamon from Sutnga, who is the attendant of a patient, said the treatment is good. The tests were done in the hospital and no money was charged, Bamon said.
Benedict Kharkongor, a patient from Umphyrnai, said earlier when he was undergoing treatment at private hospitals in Shillong, he had to run around for doing tests. He said he is happy with the kind of services provided at the government facility.
Former chief minister Mukul Sangma had laid the foundation stone for the cancer wing in March 2011. The time for completion was two years.
In 2015, a team from the Department of Atomic Energy had pulled up the state government for the delay.
Sophisticated equipment worth Rs 15 crore would be used to provide better medical facilities to the cancer patients. Once operational, the cobalt machine, which is currently set up at the Shillong Civil Hospital and used for radiation therapy, will be shifted to the cancer wing.