SAMBALPUR: IT’S a harrowing time for cancer patients undergoing treatment in the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR).
At a time when the temperature has been hovering at around 45 degree C, all the six air- conditioners (ACs) in the 24-bed cancer ward - which is without any ventilation - have been lying defunct for the last several days. With authorities unmoved by their plight, angry patients and their attendants on Wednesday staged dharna outside the ward.
At present, there are 50 patients admitted to the cancer ward. As all the six ACs are dysfunctional, many patients were forced to shift from their beds to the porch of the ward to get some relief from the heat. But for those who cannot move out of their beds, the suffering is beyond expression.
On Wednesday noon, the patients and their kin sat on dharna outside the cancer ward and refused to eat unless their problems were addressed. Besides ACs, patients complained of drinking water shortage and timely administration of medication by the staff. Though the patients sat for more than an hour, none of the authorities visited them and they had to call off their protest.
Mostly, poor patients who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals, undergo treatment at VIMSAR. Husband of a patient from Balangir who is undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer said, “we would have never chosen to come here if we had any other option for cancer treatment.”
VIMSAR Superintendent Jayashree Dora said alternative arrangements will be made soon and work is on to repair the ACs at the earliest. Head of Cancer Department Kabita Majhi said coolers have been set up in the ward for temporary relief. A doctor of the hospital, requesting anonymity, warned that patients taking chemo are in an ‘immuno-compromised’ state and likely to get infected due to humidity.