KOCHI: The Justice V R Krishna Iyer Movement will meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday demanding commencement of in-patient (IP) facility at the Cochin Cancer Centre functioning at the Kochi Government Medical College.The existing out-patient(OP) wing, which is open only during the day hours does not serve the purpose of a cancer hospital, according to the movement’s volunteers.
"Chemotherapy is already available at the Cancer Centre. Patients who undergo chemotherapy become too tired because of the use of high dosage of medicines. If there is an IP facility, at least the patients who undergo chemo can indeed be accommodated in the ward to ensure they do not develop any chemotherapy- related problems. The Cancer Centre ‘s construction is expected to begin in January and it may take a few more years for its completion. If the IP is not started, the centre will have to remain a mere OP till the time the entire construction gets completed and centre moves into own premises. Since the centre already has senior doctors, IP facility can be set up by appointing a few junior doctors who can function under the guidance of seniors,’’ said Dr N K Sunil Kumar, a volunteer of the movement.
Health Minister K K Shylaja had said the other day the Cancer Centre’s construction will commence on January 1, 2018. The proposed 213- bed hospital will have an area of 3 lakh sq ft and around 450 outpatient cases are expected daily. It will have four operation theatres and other fully-fledged infrastructure facilities for state-of-the-art comprehensive cancer treatment like linear accelerators, branchy therapy, bone marrow transplant and nuclear medicine. The environmental impact assessment(EIA) is going on and a detailed design and steps to invite bids are being finalised in consultation with the stakeholders.
The Cancer Centre OP started functioning on November 1, 2016. As many 905 patients have sought treatment at the centre so far and 525 persons have been administered chemotherapy. The surgical oncology wing has performed 212 small surgeries till date.