cancer VI

BFUHS, Faridkot to have 150-bed research & treatment centre
Cancer hospital planned at Baba Farid University
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 8
If all goes well, Malwa — the epicentre of the cancer scourge in Punjab — will soon have a 150-bed Super Specialty Cancer Research and Treatment Centre at the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot.
The hospital will be set up under the National Cancer Programme, with the aim to save the patients of this region the trouble of going to Bikaner or Chandigarh for detection and treatment of the deadly disease.
According to details available, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and his wife, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal had recently called on the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad seeking a Super Specialty Cancer Research and Treatment Centre in the Malwa region, due to the abnormally high incidence of cancer in the area.
Bringing to his notice that very high levels of uranium concentration had been found in the hair samples of children, they had mentioned that in Bathinda, over 1089 people had died of cancer in the last three years.
Further, they informed him that during a recent drive to detect breast cancer alone in villages of Bathinda and Mansa districts, out of the 3409 tests and 894 mammography tests conducted, there were 131 suspected cases, and 46 out of these turned out to be positive but there were no facilities available in the area to treat it.
Presenting a grim picture, they requested him to set up the centre, preferably in Mansa under the National Cancer Programme, mentioning that it could be set up even in the existing Civil Hospital premises where related facilities could be provided.
However, after receiving the response of the minister, the state government has now asked the authorities of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, to draft a proposal along with the total requirements to set it up.
Following the directions, the BFUHS has reportedly prepared the draft under which they have sought a total of Rs 128 crore for setting up the 150-bed well-equipped cancer hospital, where cobalt unit, Gama camera, radio therapy, MRI labs, along with various ultra-modern machines would be set up.
Besides, they have mentioned that to run the whole system, there would be requirement of about 100 persons including medical and technical experts.
Confirming the facts, the vice-chancellor of the BFUHS, Dr SS Gill said, “We have prepared the draft of proposal and requirements, which was even discussed at a high-level meeting held on October 6. Finding our draft suitable at the preliminary stage, the authorities concerned have asked us to give it a final touch and submit it, which we will do within the next two-three days.”
Meanwhile, the head of the department of oncology at the BFUHS, Dr HP Yadav, who had represented the BFUHS in the meeting, said, “We are hopeful that the project would be allotted to us as we are already running the section. Though at present it is small unit but we have credentials to run it.”