Dehradun, July 15 : The National Cancer Programme, underway in three districts of the state, is helping in early detection and treatment of the disease.Though, there is no cancer treatment facility in the district hospitals in the state, the screening tests have brought to fore the number of cancer cases among large number of men and women in the state.
The programme is currently on in three districts of Dehradun, Haridwar and Tehri. The prevalence of cervical cancer is high among women, while cases of lung and blood cancer are common among men.
“Since the launch of the programme, there has been a qualitative change in the attitude of women as they now willingly come for PAP smear tests and so is the case with men. The habit of chewing tobacco gives rise to the disease,” said Dr Suman Arya, joint director (Medical Care) and programme officer, national cancer programme.
The doctors from Himalayan Hospital Trust (HIHT) Jolly Grant are providing training to the doctors deployed in the three districts.
In the future the programme would be started in Kumaon. The state government is also in the process of setting up an oncology wing at the Coronation Hospital complete with the radiotherapy unit. Being set up at the cost of Rs 3 crore, funded by the central government and a certification from Bhaba Atomic Research Center (BARC) has also been granted. It would begin functioning once the work on the wing is complete.