The State Government has a proposal for making available cancer care and follow-up services in the district hospitals. The proposal was deliberated at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Gokul Chandra Pati at the Secretariat on Saturday. Health & Family Welfare Principal Secretary Arti Ahuja outlined the issues for discussion. National-level medical oncologist Dr Dinesh Pendhakar along with Dr CS Tripathy made the presentation on various technical and clinical aspects of the proposal.
The Chief Secretary Pati said that there is a felt need for such facilities at the district hospitals as this would save patients from various types of exploitations. He directed the department to work out a detailed project report at the earliest for the Government’s approval. He also wanted formation of an experts’ committee to carry forward the proposal. The AIMS, Bhubaneswar and the Achrya Harihar Cancer Care Centre, Cuttack were asked to take the lead in this regard.
The experts’ presentation showed that cancer care can be decentralised. With appropriate training and arrangements, the district hospitals can administer chemo. The doctors can also manage the post-operation care, for which a patient would not be required to run to specialised hospitals located at far-off urban centres. The experts also opined that since best quality medicines are available in the market and can be procured by authorities through any mode as deemed proper.
The programme can be implemented through a partnership among the district hospitals and tertiary cancer care hospitals and can be carried to people through community leaders and health workers. The Chief Secretary advised to adopt a multi-sectoral collaborative approach among Government centres of excellence for cancer, pharmaceutical companies producing lifesaving medicines, doctors placed at district hospitals, people’s representatives, volunteers and health workers. Doctors and cancer experts can be brought together through Whatsapp and telemedicine systems for real time consultation and care.