Brahm Mohindra, health and family welfare minister, said the department of health and family welfare has decided to cover children up to 18 years, suffering from cancer, under its cashless treatment scheme. Disclosing this during a state-level workshop on ‘Paediatric Oncology Stakeholder Sensitization’ Mohindra, , said the government has decided to extend cashless cancer treatment for the children at 18 empanelled hospitals across the state.
He said under the chief minister cancer relief fund scheme, the cancer patients will be given Rs 1.5 lakh for their treatment. He further said that “The state government is committed to provide tertiary health services to each and every child of the state suffering from cancer. We have commenced first of its kind ever special awareness programme to ensure health security for the patients,” “Earlier, the focus was only on adult cancer patients, now we have included children patients under scheme’s ambit,” Mohindra said.
The minister said keeping in view the process of tracking and follow-up of the cancer patients at primary and secondary level, health department is also being imparted special training to medical officers, staff nurses and ANMs to conduct tests concerning to cancers, especially of children and women under the cancer campaign in rural areas of the state, as at least 50,000 new cases of childhood cancers detected every year in India, but due to inadequate facilities for detection and treatment the mortality rate is very high.
“We have already implemented the plan to strengthen facilities at government medical colleges in Patiala and Amritsar and other cancer hospitals to provide the quality tertiary health services to the affected children,” he said.Meanwhile, on the occasion, the department of medical education and research has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cankids in the presence of Vikas Partap, Secretary Medical Education and Poonam Bagai, founder chairman, Cankids.
Principal Secretary, Health Anjali Bhanwra, said that the department still necessitates more and more screening and awareness programme to cover up the total population of the state.“The health department and cankids would jointly run the campaign to identify the cancer patient and provide easy access of health services,” she said.
