PUDUCHERRY: Lok Sabha MP V Vaithilingam on Thursday urged the Puducherry government to establish a cancer hospital with the Centre's support as the current facilities in the UT were inadequate with a rise in the number of cancer patients.
The MP, addressing the media, said cancer patients in Puducherry were now depending entirely on the Regional Cancer Centre at JIPMER, where many patients from other parts of the country, too, visit. With the locals not being given any priority there and the lack of alternate options, cancer patients in the UT often have to wait for even six months to undergo radiotherapy or chemotherapy. It is because of this delay that many have died, he added. Even if the patients from the UT try to avail of treatment in Tamil Nadu, they do not get any priority, he further said.
He urged the Union Ministry of Health and Family welfare to provide grants to set up a new hospital, and stated that as per rough estimates around `100 crore would be required to set up facilities like radiotherapy and chemotherapy there.
Talking about JIPMER, Vaithilingam said the facilities at the institute should be enhanced and that it must give preventive vaccinations for cancer to young women. The MP, who is a member of JIPMER’s governing body, also urged the government to address the medicine shortage and other administrative issues at the central institute.
He pointed out that many patients have been denied free treatment at the institute due to the non-remittance of insurance dues under the Ayushman Bharat Jan Arogya Yojana, and asked the government to find a solution.
Alleging the BJP for stifling democracy across the country by overlooking established democratic rules, Vaithilingam, who was also a former Speaker, said the current Puducherry Speaker was expressing his views and participating in party meetings, and that it was improper for someone holding the post to do so.