18 beds in public sector for over 5 million people

Islamabad : There is only a single oncology department operating in public sector in this region of the country at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) that has 18 beds in all to cater to the needs of well over five million people living in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and adjoining towns stretching from Attock to Jhelum and AJK.

According to Globocan and International Agency for Research on Cancer, a total of 173, 937 new cases of cancer were reported in Pakistan in 2018 while 118,442 people died of various cancers last year and the number of prevalent cases for five years was 310,132.

The oncology department at PIMS receives 70 to 90 cancer patients per day, around 450 a week. Of 1800 to 2000 cancer patients reaching PIMS Oncology Department every month, some 250 to 300 patients are registered as new cases of various cancers, said Head of Oncology Department at PIMS Professor Dr. Qasim Mehmood while talking to ‘The News’ on Monday in connection with World Cancer Day observed on February 4 around the globe.

He said the only oncology department in public sector at PIMS earlier had a total of eight beds in ward but after efforts from Executive Director PIMS Dr. Amjad Mehmood, we have 18 beds in ward in the department.

He said the oncology department has almost all diagnostic facilities though it does not have PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography Scan), a much important machine for diagnosis and treatment of various cancers.

The PIMS oncology department is providing facility of chemotherapy to cancer patients and on average, 20 patients receive chemotherapy per day at PIMS, said Professor Qasim. He added that almost all types of surgical facilities involved in treatment of cancers are being provided at the PIMS though a lot is yet to be done to make oncology department a standard cancer centre.

He said a new specialty ‘Surgical Oncology’ has already been introduced that would certainly play an important role in improving healthcare services for cancer patients.

Data collected by ‘The News’ has revealed that the PIMS oncology department received 20 per cent more cancer patients in 2018 as compared to the previous year. The total number of visits of cancer patients to the oncology department was over 15000 in 2018 while over 6000 patients were found suffering from various cancers including blood cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, kidney, intestinal cancer, lymphoma, stomach and liver cancers.

PIMS provided over Rs380 million to non affording patients from Bait-ul-Mal for treatment though a lot is needed to improve diagnostic and treatment facilities for cancer patients in the region, said Deputy Director at PIMS Dr. Wasim Khawaja.