Shillong, Dec 15: Health Minister James Sangma today inaugurated the cancer care wing at the Shillong Civil hospital, however, there are several equipment and manpower that are yet to be installed or hired.
Sangma inaugurating the wing said there are plans from the government's end to have similar cancer care wings in all the district headquarters of the state.
Sangma said apart from the wing the government is still working to have two medical colleges in the state. "The construction work of the cancer care wing in Tura Garo Hills has begun, but there are lots of challenges. We are also trying to have a similar medical college in Shillong," Sangma added.
The present proposal is to have a 50-70 bedded hospital for the patients at the cancer wing with a separate facility for the day care patients. In Meghalaya there are at least 10,000 cancer patients. Cancer cases in the state are one of the highest in the country.
The government has been struggling to provide proper facilities to these cancer patients and many patients are referred outside the state for complicated procedures and care.
The state government to upgrade some of the facilities has signed a MoU with Apollo Telehealth Foundation on Wednesday. Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said, "This MoU will be a game changer which will initiate the early detection rate for breast cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, oral cancer, esophageal cancer through awareness and mass screening," the CM said after signing the agreement.
However despite these efforts and the infrastructure built, Meghalaya is finding it difficult to bring specialists to the state.
Though the new wing has been inaugurated yet there are specialists to be recruited. At least one Medical Oncologist and a Surgical Oncologist are required. Finding biomedical technicians has also been a challenge for the state.
The cancer care wing would be installing various state of the art equipment for internal and external radiation (Brachytherapy and Cobalt-60) among other high-end equipment.
Officials said that till the time the state manages to recruit specialists and biomedical technicians, it would "train the in-service doctors" till super specialty doctors are available.
Meanwhile, the 250-bedded Research Cancer Centre at the NEIGRIHMS is also nearing completion. The centre would be completed by March next year.