TIRUPPUR: Tiresome look, pale skin, hair loss, high dosage medications and regular hospital visits were some of the most usual things Dr A Muruganathan saw his mother go through when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1999.
Since there weren’t any cancer centres in western Tamil Nadu, regular travel to a private hospital in Chennai made things even worse. That is when Muruganathan’s brother Sakthivel proposed to create a cancer care hospital for an estimated cost of `60 crore, which was too expensive to afford.
Muruganathan was born in a middle-class family in Coimbatore on June 19, 1951. His journey into the world of medicine was shaped by a personal tragedy and an unwavering commitment to service. The loss of his father to a heart attack on September 15, 1976, stirred within him a deep-seated desire to alleviate the suffering of others and pursue medicine.
“I realised that not just service, innovation in medical practices can yield greater results in the profession. In 1998, while I was on my way to the airport, I found a man severely injured on the road. Since there was no one to help, I managed to take him to a nearby government hospital. Though I missed my flight, the incident prompted me to create a mini health unit for trauma care. I decided to create an ambulance unit which will be managed by a nurse and a medical assistant. Each one of them will be placed at a distance of 25 km. I received support from various private hospitals. The system received great appreciation and was later adopted by the state and union governments,” the 72-year-old says.
However, Muruganathan’s most monumental achievement lies in his relentless pursuit of establishing a cancer care hospital in Tiruppur. After witnessing his mother’s battle with cancer, he realised that there were countless other families in the region who were going through the same plight as him.
He said, “In 2019, a medical camp took place in Tiruppur city and I happened to meet an oncologist named Dr Suresh. We shared our thoughts on cancer and I proposed to him my idea on building a cancer speciality hospital within the district. However, due to COVID and consequent quarantine, the process was put on hold. Later on, when we had a little chat with officials from the Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation, they proposed an idea of developing the cancer hospital with the help of Namakku Naame scheme (self-sufficiency scheme).”
“The idea was later presented to Mayor N Dinesh Kumar and Information & Publicity Minister M P Saminathan. Later, we formed a new trust called ‘Rotary Public Welfare Trust’ to collect one-third of the money (`30 crore) through funding, while two-third of the money (`60 crore) will be borne by the government. As the target of collecting `30 crore was not easy, we took help from philanthropists, well-wishers, exporters and garment units. Though the trust was initiated in March 2021, it took us more than 15 months to collect the entire amount. However, on January 10, 2024, the bhoomi puja for the project was held.”
The cancer facility will house modern comprehensive treatments with a Cath lab, operation theatre C Arm, advanced ICU and a day centre chemotherapy unit. Most importantly, a Linear Accelerator Machine for precision cancer treatment will be present in the unit. This machine will be imported from the US and is far superior to any linear accelerator in Tamil Nadu. Most importantly, the centre will be spread over 50,000 square feet and will be able to accommodate 150 beds. A team of physicians under oncology and radiology departments will be present.
“After the construction work is completed, mostly by December 2024, several levels of inspections will be carried out by scientists and officials from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE),” he said.
S Damodharan, secretary of Tiruppur Red Cross Society, said Muruganathan was the first to start a Hypertension Clinic in western TN. “His timely innovative methods have yielded wide appreciation. He was also instrumental in creating the Tiruppur Tamil Sangam, which encourages literary achievements and offers awards for best literary works,” he added.
(Edited by Ashyl Paul)