Oncologists seek more cancer specialists, hospitals

MKRMS seminar

LAHORE: The eminent oncologists have lamented lack of sufficient specialised health facilities for the treatment of cancer in view of the fact the disease is spreading at a fast rate.

“Nearly 340,000 people get affected with different kinds of cancer in the country every year and 80 percent of them are unable to afford the treatment of this disease,” they said, while addressing a seminar on “Problems in cancer treatment and their solution” held in connection with World Cancer Day under the auspices of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Memorial Society (Jang Group of Newspapers) and Cancer Care Hospital and Research Centre here at a local hotel.

Speaking on the occasion, Cancer Care Hospital and Research Centre Chairman Prof Dr Shehryar said that at least 185,640 new cancer patients appeared in 110 million populations of Punjab every year. But unfortunately, he said, only about 12,000 cancer patients were getting treatment in public sector hospitals.

He said that up to 15 percent of population had been affected by hepatitis C and were likely to suffer from liver cancer in the next few years, which is the biggest failure of the government. He regretted that there were no specialised teachers in public as well as private medical institutions to teach on cancer, which left a massive vacuum of specialists in the field of cancer treatment. He also lamented that there were no separate oncology wards or separate faculty of cancer in tertiary care hospitals in the province. As it is a huge project to establish a cancer hospital, he said, the government should immediately initiate a move to establish separate cancer wards in hospitals.

He further said that the government seemed helpless in matter of rising prices of medicines, leaving people at the mercy of pharmaceutical companies. He also advocated setting up of a National Cancer Control Board to prevent the spread of the disease among the people. Besides, he also urged the government to establish a cancer registry to collect accurate statistics of cancer prevalence in the country. He also appealed to the government to allow manufacturing of cancer medicines to all hospitals in order to provide relief to the cancer patients.

Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar said that the government engaged pharmaceutical companies and convinced them to reduce prices of more than 50 medicines and increase prices of some medicines, but they increased prices of several medicines on their own. As government launched action against such pharmaceutical companies, she said, these companies took stay against the action from Sindh High Court and the government has to go to the Supreme Court and the decision will be awaited on February 17.

She said that the Hepatitis C medicine would soon be available at a cheaper price of Rs5,888. She announced that the hospitals were free to procure their own medicines independently.She further said that the government hesitated to start new project due to cumbersome procedure of getting approval from so many government departments, which desisted the government to start a public welfare project.

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said that the government was focusing on improving DHQ and THQ hospitals to lessen burden on tertiary care hospitals. “The retirement age of doctors has been increased up to 63 years,” he said, adding that the Punjab government had allocated 33 acre land for cancer hospital, which would be started after functioning of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute.

Parliamentary Secretary on Health Khawaja Imran Nazir stressed the need to work on
 the disease rather than focusing entire energies on the treatment of patients. He said that the Punjab government would fully support Prof Shehryar’s efforts of establishing Cancer Care Hospital, which would be a great service to the ailing humanity.

Commissioner Lahore Abdullah Sumbal said that the Punjab government was following public-private partnership policy, which would help to achieve success in materialising public welfare projects.

The Punjab government Spokesman Zaeem Qadri said that health was a Punjab government’s priority, saying that if resources allocated to health sector were utilised properly then healthcare sector could be revolutionised.

Dr M Fayyaz said a woman dies due to breast cancer after every 68 seconds around the world, which is a major cause of concern. He advised women to conduct mammogram every year after the age of 40.

Cancer Care Hospital and Research Centre, Director Advocacy Dr Nazish Faisal said that the cancer treatment success goes up to 60 to 70 percent if diagnosed at an early stage. She said that the 400-bed Cancer Care Hospital, established at 23 acre in Lahore, would be made functional in December 2016, which would provide latest treatment facilities to cancer patients at affordable cost.

Dr Areesha Zaman said that Cancer Care Hospital would provide free treatment to the cancer patients. Besides, she also claimed that no patient would be refused treatment in Cancer Care Hospital.

Besides, Prof Dr Abdul Majeed Chaudhry, Dr Riaz-ur-Rehman, Dr Ijaz Nisar, Farhat Parveen, Safdar Butt and other also spoke.MKRMS Chairman Wasif Nagi hosted the seminar, while Ali Imran, Kiran Butt and Shahzad Rauf assisted him.