KOCHI: Justice Krishna Iyer Movement has flayed the government for its lackadaisical attitude towards setting up of Cochin Cancer Centre.
“The government has not implemented any welfare schemes for cancer patients over the past three years. The Finance Minister in his budget speech for 2013-14 announced the launch of Cancer Tertiary Care in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode medical colleges, to set up cancer hospital in central Kerala and to set up Cancer Care Centre at Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kozhikode district hospitals,” said N K Sanal Kumar of the Movement in a press release issued here on Monday.
“In the budget announcement for 2014-15, the Minister had announced that cancer awareness and detection camps would be held in all panchayats of the state. The budget had also said that five doctors, including two women, would be given special training in all districts to conduct the camps and to provide follow-up treatment for those diagnosed with the disease. But the announcements are yet to become a reality,” the statement said.
“The number of cancer patients are increasing every day. Around two lakh patients are registering in Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapruam, alone in a year in which the number of patients in the country is 10 lakh.
The number of cancer patients has registered an increase of 280 per cent in 30 years.
The number of new patients in the year 2011 was 14,016 and that in 2012-13 was 14,985 as per the statistics based on the annual report of RCC, National Cancer Registry Programme Reports, Indian Council of Medical Research Reports and International Medical Journal,” the statement further said.
Sanal Kumar also alleged that it was puzzling that the Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank’s offer to give the full amount needed for Cochin Cancer Centre as loan was not considered . “The annuity model to implement the project- in which money is being mobilised from private agencies and returned with interest- raises concerns. There is mystery in hiding the details of the model,” he said.
The statement also urged the government to conduct population-based study in all panchayats with the help of Non Governmental Organisations to collect details of cancer patients.
The demands also included the commencement of the construction of Cochin Cancer Institute and Thalassery Malabar Cancer Centre and to cancer detection centres in all district hospitals.