Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Oct 24: While cancer continues to afflict many villages across the state, the only available cancer treatment facility is located at Kidwai Cancer Hospital in Bengaluru. This poses significant hardships for people living far from Bengaluru who cannot afford to travel for treatment.

A branch of Kidwai hospital has been established in Kalaburagi, and a building for cancer treatment is under construction in Tumkur. Land has been earmarked for a cancer hospital in Mysuru. However, aside from these developments, there are no government-run cancer hospitals in the state.

A CT scan, essential for determining whether a lump or tumor is cancerous, costs Rs 7,000. If further examinations are required due to suspicions raised by the CT scan, such as endoscopy, the cost increases to Rs 10,000. Medical professionals emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment for saving patients.

The diagnosis of intestinal cancer necessitates endoscopy and colonoscopy, while breast cancer detection involves MMA tests. Unfortunately, all these tests are prohibitively expensive, leaving many less fortunate individuals to grapple with the disease at home.

Almost 50% of patients from neighboring districts seek medical treatment at Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru. Although a previous surgeon had proposed the introduction of radiotherapy at the hospital, this idea has yet to be realized. The new surgical block also makes no mention of such a development, despite ample space within the Wenlock Hospital campus. The introduction of onco-radiology and onco-surgery, along with the recruitment of four oncologist onco-surgery experts and two radiotherapists, is desperately needed. Given the presence of numerous medical colleges in and around Mangaluru, it is possible to establish a cancer unit on an outsourced basis through contracts with these institutions. There is a prevailing opinion that treatment could be made free for the poor and charged for those with financial means.

Hormone therapy, surgery, bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy are all exceptionally expensive. Despite the growing prevalence of cancer, the health department has not created a specialist cancer post at Wenlock Hospital. This has resulted in a lack of surgeons available to perform chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Although the government claims that it will refer indigent patients to private hospitals under the Ayushman scheme, these private facilities often generate bills under different names. Furthermore, consultation is not covered by the Ayushman scheme.

Social worker B. K. Imtiyaz emphasizes, "Apart from Kidwai Hospital in Bengaluru, there is no free facility for cancer screening and treatment in Karnataka. This has left impoverished cancer patients to silently endure their suffering. Establishing a 100-bed cancer hospital within the Wenlock Hospital campus is imperative and would provide critical assistance to numerous people in Dakshina Kannada and neighboring districts."