Dedicated cancer treatment centre in public sector urgently required: Dr Rizvi

Growing incidence of smoking, chewing tobacco in the form of Paan, Gutka and Naswar, obesity, environmental pollution, exposure to toxins and chemicals, unhealthy diet and lifestyle as well as infections are the leading contributing factors behind cancers among the local population, said Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi on Friday.

“Keeping in view the growing incidence of different types of cancers in our society, there is an urgent need for the establishment of a dedicated cancer treatment centre in the public sector where free of charge cancer treatment could be available to people with dignity,” he said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a three-day conference on the prevalence and treatment of cancer at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) here on Friday.

The conference, jointly organised by the SIUT and American Society of Oncology (ASCO), is being attended by cancer specialists from Europe, North America and from within the country. A prominent cancer specialist of the country, Professor Manzoor Zaidi, was the guest of honour.

Cancer caused in various parts of human body will be discussed during the deliberations of the conference. Prof Rizvi, who is a renowned kidney surgeon and director of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), presented a healthcare model of his institute, which, he said, had been successfully functioning in the country for the last four decades and could be emulated for providing health care facilities to the people.

He said the SIUT, which was considered a premier institution providing free treatment in specialised fields of medicine, also provided free ontological treatment. Giving details of causes of cancer, Prof Rizvi identified smoking, oral use of tobacco in different forms, including Paan, Gutka and Naswaar, obesity, exposure to toxics, environmental pollution, unhealthy diet and lifestyle as well as infections as main contributing elements causing cancer.

“Only our institute treated over 27,000 patients of cancer in the previous year,” he said, adding that they were compelled to make arrangements for cancer treatment due to growing incidence of the deadly disease in the country.

Dr Pervaiz Rahman, a visiting cancer specialist from Pittsburgh School of Medicine, gave an exhaustive presentation about the lungs cancer which he declared as the most common ailment in developing countries.

He also held smoking and use of tobacco as the main factors. Lungs cancer is the second leading cause of deaths in the United States after heart diseases, Dr Rahman said.