Two members’ question on the number of cancer patients in Punjab and relief provided to them by the government had the state Assembly engrossed in a brief but meaningful debate on the subject, which prompted Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to order a census of cancer patients and create a fund to be utilised for the treatment of the patients.
Interestingly, when the Chief Minister proposed that all members of the House, including ministers, should donate their one month salary for the special cancer fund, all legislators present in the House assented to it.
Ajit Inder Singh Mofar and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, both from the Congress, wanted to know from state Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla a subdivision-wise break up of cancer patients and deaths due to this deadly disease in the state. They also wanted to know how many of these patients got complete treatment besides the total relief provided to them.
Chawla maintained that though there was no provision for the registration of cancer patients in the state, she had on her own asked the department to conduct a count of the total number of cancer patients and deaths caused due to it.
She said between 2001 and 2009, the total number of cancer patients detected in the rural areas numbered 23, 427, of which 16,730 died. At present, as many as 6,000 cancer patients were under treatment.
When Congress members insisted to know about the growing incidence in the Malwa belt, especially in the Mansa area to which Ajit Inder Singh Mofar belongs, and facilities being created there for the treatment of the poor cancer patients, Badal said doctors treating his wife abroad told him that cancer was one of the biggest killers in the US and as such blaming water or increasing toxicity of soil because of the use of peticides and fertilisers could not be the reason for the high incidence of cancer in the Malwa belt. Scientists were still trying to find the cause of cancer.
He agreed that the treatment of cancer was expensive. Setting up special diagnostic and treatment hospitals in Bathinda and Mohali besides creating a fund to provide fixed financial relief for the treatment of cancer patients were the immediate initiatives of his government, he said, adding that let there be a society that should govern these funds and disburse them in a free and fair manner to the needy patients.
He said though the Centre has asked for the registry of cancer patients through the PGI and a couple of government hospitals in the state, he had already ordered the Department of Health and Family Welfare to conduct a census of cancer patients in the state.
Khaira said deaths due to cancer in his constituency, Bholath, were high as every third or fourth person dying in the area was reported to be suffering from the disease. Both Khaira and Mofar wanted that big diagnostic and treatment centres were beyond the reach of the common man and as such, the state must take steps to ensure that they also get proper and timely treatment
Voicing concern about rising incidents of cancer in the entire southern region of Punjab during the Zero Hour, nominated member HK Dua requested Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to take steps for setting up “a big cancer hospital” there so that patients do not have to travel all the way from Abohar to Bikaner for treatment.
Recounting the plight of patients who travel on the Train No. 339 every night from Abohar to Bikaner, the former Editor of The Tribune said the train had acquired the dubious distinction of “cancer train” because nearly 100 cancer patients travel by it from Punjab for diagnosis and treatment at the Acharya Tulsi Regional Cancer Treatment and Research Institute, Bikaner.
According to official figures, 2,875 cancer cases have been diagnosed in Bhatinda and 929 in Hoshiarpur.
Bhatinda showed a prevalence of 75 cases per lakh population whereas Hoshiarpur showed a prevalence of 46.47 per lakh population, the Health Minister told the Rajya Sabha yesterday after the issue was raised during the Question Hour. Apprising the House about a special programme under which Rs 100 crore would be spent for treatment of cancer patients in 100 districts, Azad also said that the government had released funds for development of Oncology wing in medical colleges in Faridkot, Amritsar and Patiala in Punjab to supplement the efforts to fight the disease.
“We have started a pilot project in 100 districts in which Rs 1 crore would be spent on chemotherapy in each district and it will cover a population of 15-20 crore,” Azad said, terming the effort a part of the recently-launched National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS).
The new programme envisages providing diagnostic services, basic surgery, chemotherapy and palliative care to cancer patients at 100 districts across 21 states during 2010-11 and 2011-12, Azad said, replying to the query on increased number of cancer patients in Bhatinda and Hoshiarpur districts.
The Health Minister said a high-level team comprising experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research and other reputed institutes had visited the region to look into the matter in September 2010 and recommended that a regional cancer centre be set up there along with a molecular genetics laboratory.
Some preliminary research has been carried out about the prevalence of widespread cancer in Southern Punjab, which is rich in agriculture, particularly, in growing cotton for the rest of the country. Research tends to suggest that pesticides and fertilizers that are being widely used and the consequent pollution of the water is leading to cancer in Southern Punjab.
Interestingly, when the Chief Minister proposed that all members of the House, including ministers, should donate their one month salary for the special cancer fund, all legislators present in the House assented to it.
Ajit Inder Singh Mofar and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, both from the Congress, wanted to know from state Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla a subdivision-wise break up of cancer patients and deaths due to this deadly disease in the state. They also wanted to know how many of these patients got complete treatment besides the total relief provided to them.
Chawla maintained that though there was no provision for the registration of cancer patients in the state, she had on her own asked the department to conduct a count of the total number of cancer patients and deaths caused due to it.
She said between 2001 and 2009, the total number of cancer patients detected in the rural areas numbered 23, 427, of which 16,730 died. At present, as many as 6,000 cancer patients were under treatment.
When Congress members insisted to know about the growing incidence in the Malwa belt, especially in the Mansa area to which Ajit Inder Singh Mofar belongs, and facilities being created there for the treatment of the poor cancer patients, Badal said doctors treating his wife abroad told him that cancer was one of the biggest killers in the US and as such blaming water or increasing toxicity of soil because of the use of peticides and fertilisers could not be the reason for the high incidence of cancer in the Malwa belt. Scientists were still trying to find the cause of cancer.
He agreed that the treatment of cancer was expensive. Setting up special diagnostic and treatment hospitals in Bathinda and Mohali besides creating a fund to provide fixed financial relief for the treatment of cancer patients were the immediate initiatives of his government, he said, adding that let there be a society that should govern these funds and disburse them in a free and fair manner to the needy patients.
He said though the Centre has asked for the registry of cancer patients through the PGI and a couple of government hospitals in the state, he had already ordered the Department of Health and Family Welfare to conduct a census of cancer patients in the state.
Khaira said deaths due to cancer in his constituency, Bholath, were high as every third or fourth person dying in the area was reported to be suffering from the disease. Both Khaira and Mofar wanted that big diagnostic and treatment centres were beyond the reach of the common man and as such, the state must take steps to ensure that they also get proper and timely treatment
Voicing concern about rising incidents of cancer in the entire southern region of Punjab during the Zero Hour, nominated member HK Dua requested Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to take steps for setting up “a big cancer hospital” there so that patients do not have to travel all the way from Abohar to Bikaner for treatment.
Recounting the plight of patients who travel on the Train No. 339 every night from Abohar to Bikaner, the former Editor of The Tribune said the train had acquired the dubious distinction of “cancer train” because nearly 100 cancer patients travel by it from Punjab for diagnosis and treatment at the Acharya Tulsi Regional Cancer Treatment and Research Institute, Bikaner.
According to official figures, 2,875 cancer cases have been diagnosed in Bhatinda and 929 in Hoshiarpur.
Bhatinda showed a prevalence of 75 cases per lakh population whereas Hoshiarpur showed a prevalence of 46.47 per lakh population, the Health Minister told the Rajya Sabha yesterday after the issue was raised during the Question Hour. Apprising the House about a special programme under which Rs 100 crore would be spent for treatment of cancer patients in 100 districts, Azad also said that the government had released funds for development of Oncology wing in medical colleges in Faridkot, Amritsar and Patiala in Punjab to supplement the efforts to fight the disease.
“We have started a pilot project in 100 districts in which Rs 1 crore would be spent on chemotherapy in each district and it will cover a population of 15-20 crore,” Azad said, terming the effort a part of the recently-launched National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS).
The new programme envisages providing diagnostic services, basic surgery, chemotherapy and palliative care to cancer patients at 100 districts across 21 states during 2010-11 and 2011-12, Azad said, replying to the query on increased number of cancer patients in Bhatinda and Hoshiarpur districts.
The Health Minister said a high-level team comprising experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research and other reputed institutes had visited the region to look into the matter in September 2010 and recommended that a regional cancer centre be set up there along with a molecular genetics laboratory.
Some preliminary research has been carried out about the prevalence of widespread cancer in Southern Punjab, which is rich in agriculture, particularly, in growing cotton for the rest of the country. Research tends to suggest that pesticides and fertilizers that are being widely used and the consequent pollution of the water is leading to cancer in Southern Punjab.
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