Punjab to soon become hub of world class cancer treatment- Badal

Chandigarh, October 11, 2013: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today avowed to make Punjab as one of the best state in the country having superb infra structure and human resources to combat the deadly menace of cancer on one hand and provide the world class treatment to the persons inflicted with cancer at cost effective and inexpensive charges.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Workshop of Cancer registration and Cancer control organised by Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai in collaboration with PGI under the auspices of Punjab government here today at Bhargava Auditorium in PGIMER, the Chief Minister emphasised the need to launch a massive publicity campaign to create awareness amongst the people especially living in remote rural areas across the state about the causes and remedies of Cancer in layman's language without creating any sort of panic. Endorsing the views expressed by Director TMC Dr RA Badwe about the probable causes like lack of exercise and physical activity, obesity, less intake of fruits and vegetables besides tendency to take alcohol and chew tobacco, he said these must be widely publicized amongst the masses in their local idiom so that they should not fell prey to the trap of Cancer. Firm believer of 'prevention is always better than cure' Badal said this adage must be put into practice by making people apprised of the ill effects of cancer and at the same time sensitising them about the necessity of early detection, which could otherwise become a cause of death due to ignorance.

The Chief Minister shared how he lost his father and wife due to cancer and narrated his own traumatic experience of Cancer and having get it cured in US about two decades back by seeking doctor's timely intervention at its initial stage. Therefore, he reiterated that early detection of Cancer was of paramount importance to give a new lease of life to the cancer patients and advised the medical fraternity to primarily concentrate on this aspect so that the incidence of cancer could be minimised. Badal said, "We the Indians are fortunate of having less incidence of cancer as compared to developed countries like US and UK and still there is lot of scope to eliminate it completely to make India- a Cancer free nation".

Highlighting the role of Cancer registries in the control and research of this fatal disease, the Chief Minister said that Population based cancer Registration (PBCR) already started in Chandigarh, Mohali, Mansa, and Sangrur, in collaboration with TMC and PGIMER, have put forth useful data in identifying different types of cancer amongst males and females in urban and rural areas. He said that these registries were the eyes and ears of the cancer control and research programs to help the state for intensifying its effort to take on this disease far more effectively.    

Divulging the initiatives taken by the state government to control cancer to a considerable extent, the Chief Minister said that war has been declared on cancer by the state government for which Punjab State Cancer and Drug Addiction Treatment Infrastructure Act has been legislated and a dedicated fund of Rs. 300 crore would be credited annually to it for providing financial assistance to the cancer patients. He said that under the Chief Minister's Cancer Relief Fund Rs 1.50 lakh was being given to the Cancer patients regardless of his economic and social status. Badal  mentioned that Cancer Hospital on the lines of  Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai would soon come up at Mullanpur near Chandigarh over 50 acres of land given free of cost for it by the state government. The project has been duly approved by Union Cabinet following his persistent efforts.

Likewise the Chief Minister said that a 100 bedded advanced Cancer Centre at Bathinda would be soon made functional and Government Medical Colleges at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot have been upgraded to provide state of the art diagnostic and treatment facilities to the cancer patients. Efforts were afoot to provide Cancer drugs to the patients at cheaper rates and so far 133 drugs were being made available to them at subsidised rates. To combat the Cancer efficaciously, the state government was regularly sending the teams of Doctors and Surgeons from Punjab to abroad and TMC for specialised training in oncology and radio diagnosis to upgrade their professional skills.

Speaking on the occasion Director TMC Dr RA Badwe said that he was highly impressed by the out of box initiatives taken by the state government to control cancer in the state. He said that TMC would soon initiate the civil works at its upcoming Cancer hospital at Mullanpur and would make it operational along with another being established at Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. Highlighting the role of Cancer registries Dr Badwe said that these helped any state or organisation to tackle Cancer effectively and in a result oriented manner apart from utilising funds judiciously to treat the special type of cancer in particular area with a focused approach, which otherwise was like groping in dark and indulging in wasteful expenditure.

On the occasion, the Deputy Section Head International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) WHO Dr. F Bray, Additional Professor School of Public Health PGIMER Dr JS Thakur, Dr R Dikshit from TMC and Dr C Stefan from South Africa made their presentations on the role and significance of cancer registration.  

Prominent amongst those who spoke on the occasion included Principal Secretary Health Vinne Mahajan and Director PGIMER Dr. Yogesh Chawla. Meanwhile, Head of School of Public Health PGIMER Dr Rajesh Kumar proposed a vote of thanks.  www.cityairnews.com