Reaching out: Work on cancer hospital in Lahore from next year

Government has allocated 20 acres on Bedian Road for this purpose .

LAHORE:

Work on constructing a cancer hospital in Lahore will begin next year, Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said on Wednesday. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has allocated 20 acres near Knowledge Park on Bedian Road for this purpose, he said.

Rafique was addressing an event in connection with the World Cancer Day. The event marked the completion of the first year of a project by the Health Department to provide free medicines to leukaemia patients.

Rafique said the Health Department and Novartis Pharma had initiated the project last year. An agreement in this regard had been signed under which 1,800 registered leukaemia patients were given medicines free of cost, he said.

Speaking about the project, Professor Mehmood Shaukat said free medicines were being provided to 1,800 patients registered in various districts.

Shafiq Ahmed of Novartis Pharma said the company was spending billions of dollars to provide free medicines to poor patients each year throughout the world.

Rafique said that government was working on several projects in the health sector and had focused on the eradication of various diseases.

He said specialist doctors would be deputed at district headquarters hospitals in 120 days. He said labour rooms were open for expectant women 24 hours at 150 basic health units. He said the scope of the project would extend to 650 BHUs next year.

Seminar on breast cancer awareness

Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (INMOL) director Abu Bakr Shahid said on Wednesday that breast cancer was one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortalities among women.

He was speaking at a seminar organised by the INMOL in connection with the World Cancer Day. Shahid said the INMOL was a state-of-the-art institution of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). He said the institution had been serving the nation for 30 years.

Shahid said Pakistan had the highest incidence of breast cancer in South Asia. He said 1 out of 9 women were at risk of developing breast cancer once in their lifetime. Shahid said 35 to 40 per cent of oncology workload was attributed to breast cancer. He said according to statistics from the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the World Health Report 2005 47 per cent of breast cancer cases in the nation were already in advanced stage by the time they had been detected.

He said women over 40 years should be screened by trained health workers annually for breast cancer. Shahid said women over 20 and under 40 should be screened for the disease once in three years. He said any signs or symptoms of the cancer should be probed further. Shahid said the mortality rate of people suffering from breast cancer had declined by 25 to 30 per cent in countries where mass screenings were routinely organised.

Rida Safdar spoke about the importance of marking the World Cancer Day. She said 8.2 million people died annually due to cancer. Safdar said four million of these were aged between 30 to 69 years at the time of their deaths. She said the day provided the best opportunity to raise public awareness regarding cancer.

Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex Chairman Farrukh Iqbal spoke about the importance of changing lifestyles to reduce the risk of developing cancer. He said it was easier said than done but a few simple tips in this regard could be helpful. Iqbal said overweight people should try not to gain more.

He said physical activity should be integrated in daily life. Iqbal said a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grain should be taken. He said small portions should be eaten slowly. Iqbal said exposure of children to computers and televisions should be minimised. He said snacking on fruits and vegetables should be encouraged.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2015.