Shillong, March 15: There are 600 to 900 deaths annually due to cancer in Meghalaya.
This was informed by Dr W B Langstieh, Principal Investigator, Population Based Cancer Registry, Civil Hospital Shillong.
Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh visited the cancer wing of the Civil Hospital on Wednesday to understand its functioning.
Dr Langstieh said more deaths are among the male patients than their female counter parts.
He said East Khasi Hills tops in tobacco related cancer cases in the country.
Dr Anisha Mawlong Specialist, HOD Radiation Oncology department said the indoor facility of the cancer wing has 90 beds and it will take care of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and intensive care services of all cancer patients.
She said soon the radiotherapy will also set up by Tata memorial hospital Mumbai.
Mawlong said that the cancer wing has a single linear accelerator and presently the radiotherapy is being done from the old civil hospital with the telecobalt machine and it has been there since 2006 in order to help detect and prevent cancer at the early stage.
To a question, she said the cancer wing is already functional and has radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery but there are aspects which require upgrading in terms of therapy services.
“As far as new cases per year are concerned, we usually register around 1000 plus new cases and per day our OPD attendants come across 50-60 patients and this includes both new and old and this is alarming”, she said.
Mission mode to reduce cancer cases
Ampareen said her department is on a mission to combat cancer on a war footing.
Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh said the department will focus on the cause of cancer and will give more attention on setting up more screening camps not just in East Khasi Hills but all over the state.
“Today we had an inspection at the operational cancer wing of the Civil Hospital and through this inspection I am aware that there were a lot of unanswered questions about when this cancer institute at the civil hospital complex became operational” she said.
Lyngdoh said tremendous effort has been put in to ensure that the hospital reaches out to patients across the board, across gender, across ages and age groups because it has now been established that cancer is one of the biggest killers in Meghalaya.
She said the doctors at cancer wing have done a very good job and the government has come with a mission to combat cancer as a disease on a war footing in order to address this big problem that the state now is faced with.
“We have to focus on screening and early detection and there is a need to inculcate this ability to not just react only after cancer has been detected but the most important is to have an early detection in order to have a proper treatment” she said.
Lyngdoh said through the screening programme, over 2,000 people have already been screened in about 200 camps and the department will upscale the screening camps and extend the facilities even to other parts of the state.
“Since East Khasi Hills region has the highest number of registered cancer patients, the screening initiative took off from East Khasi Hills and now we will go for screening on the multiple parameters for detection of cancer so that we will have early detection, early treatment and overcome cancer right from a very early stage”, Lyngdoh said.
The health minister said apart from treatment there is a need to ensure that sensitisation starts at a very young age.
She also informed that the cancer institute at civil hospital provides cashless treatment as it is covered under MHIS.
