Eight months on: Feasibility study for capital’s first cancer hospital yet to complete

ISLAMABAD:

There has been virtually zero progress on the government’s promise of a cancer hospital for the capital eight months after its announcement.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had directed authorities to prepare a plan for specialised cancer hospitals in all provincial capitals, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Islamabad on May 30, 2014.

The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) is still working on feasibility of the project. NHSRC Director General Asad Hafeez said the feasibility study will be forwarded to the Planning Commission by the end of February.

At present, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) receives the bulk of cancer patients in absence of a specialised cancer hospital in the capital.

However, officials say the hospital cannot cope with the patient inflow with only 12 beds and two medical officers in the oncology department.

Currently, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore is the only specialised cancer treatment facility in the country.

The government had tasked the NHSRC Ministry to prepare the plan but the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) says the project should be handed over to CADD since it looks after all other public hospitals in the city.

An official involved with the project said there was a lack of commitment on part of the government. He explained that it was not possible to establish a hospital without a comprehensive national plan for cancer control, data on cancer patients, and trained human resource.

CADD Director General Dr Minhajus Siraj said the project should be given to CADD.

“There is a dire need for a dedicated cancer hospital in Islamabad which provides everything from early detection to transplant surgery,” he said.

Hafeez said the Planning Commission had given the task to the NHSRC. “The hospital might be handed over to CADD once it is established,” he said.

World Cancer Day

A seminar was held at the Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute (NORI) to mark the World Cancer Day on Wednesday.

NORI Professor Dr Muhammad Fahim said a total of 21,000 cancer patients have been treated at the hospital since 2002. He said women suffering from breast cancer make the highest number of cancer patients at the institute.

“Early detection and proper treatment can help save one-third of deaths among cancer patients in the country,” he said.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, a cancer survivor, shared how he fought the disease with the participants.

“I did not tell anyone about my disease until I started chemotherapy. Everyday I went to my office with a smile on my face and determination to fight against the disease,” he said.

Nushat Yasmeen, another survivor, said she and two sisters suffered from breast cancer but positive attitude and early detection saved their lives.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.