CUTTACK: The fight for patients visiting Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC) here is not limited to the disease but also stray dogs who are on a biting spree at the facility for the last few days. As many as five patients have fallen victim to the dogs in the last one week.
For a patient getting bitten by a stray means a delay in the conduct of vital procedures like chemotherapy and radiation. Amulya Sahoo (73) of Medinipur in West Bengal learnt it the hard way on Saturday. He had come to the hospital for chemotherapy and after procuring the mandatory ticket, was waiting for consultation when a dog bit him on his leg resulting in profuse bleeding.
The priority of treatment for Amulya changed after the incident as doctors at the hospital advised him to get an anti-rabies vaccine before chemotherapy. He was referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital where he received the first dose of the vaccine. The chemotherapy can now be conducted only after Amulya receives his last dose of the vaccine on June 17.
Similar is the plight of another patient Benudhar Nayak who was bitten by a dog on the hospital premises on Thursday. Sarat Das, the relative of a patient from Jajpur was bitten by a stray dog a week back. The dogs not only bite the patients and their attendants but also snatch food from them. Worse the canines can be seen roaming freely in the hospital’s wards.
While the 281-bed premier government cancer hospital which witnesses footfall of 700 to 1,000 patients daily remains overcrowded with several patients forced to wait under the rest shed, on the verandah and even the open sky. AHPGIC administrative officer Pratibha Prusty said the matter would be brought to the notice of Cuttack Municipal Corporation and necessary steps taken to curb the stray dog menace on the hospital premises.
Canine menace
Five patients bitten by stray dogs in last one week
Chemotherapy on a patient bitten by a dog was delayed by almost a month
The dogs can be seen roaming freely in the hospital’s wards