KARACHI, Nov 24: Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Director Dr Kazi Abdul Shakoor performed the ground-breaking ceremony of a modern Cancer Ward on the hospital premises.

With provision for 50 beds and update medical and treatment facilities, the project has been undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs50 million by the Cancer Society through the support of donors from across the country. Architect Aqeel Bilgrami has designed the project.

It has been initiated in the backdrop of a surge in the incidence of the disease in the city as well as decaying conditions of the existent cancer ward at the JPMC.

The cancer ward is operating in a dilapidated barracks, under severe financial constraints and often found devoid of much-needed medical facilities, owing to an old formula of allocation on a bed basis, needs urgent refurbishment.

Meanwhile, none of the government hospitals across the city is found to have all relevant facilities to diagnose and treat the ailment under one roof or even in close proximity.

The annual turnover of patients at the JPMC oncology department ranges from 2,500 to 3,000. Cancer patients, from all parts of the province as well as Balochistan, are registered here and provided with necessary medical support.

Karachi itself is fast assuming the status to report the highest number of breast-cancer patients in Asia and also registering a surge in the incidence of cheek, oral cavity and lung cancers besides other types of the disease, is in dire need of a modern and fully equipped cancer ward in the public sector.

The ceremony was also attended by the council members of the Cancer Society, including Prof Dr Serajuddaula, Principal, Sindh Medical College, Prof Manzoor Zaidi, in charge of the Baqai Institute of Oncology, Dr Zaima Alvi Ahmed, chairperson of the Cancer Ward Committee and many others.

The cancer ward project, being built close to the radiology department, against an estimated cost of Rs50 million is expected to be completed in two years.

Prof S.H. Manzoor Zaidi, who is also the president of the Pakistan Society of Clinical Oncology, told APP that one-third of all cancers reported each year around the world could be effectively treated.

Seeking concerted efforts to ensure timely diagnosis and proper treatment, he sought necessary measures to prevent the ailment as its fast-rising incidence in the developing world including Pakistan made medication a costly option, unaffordable for a vast majority.

The senior oncologist attributed tobacco consumption responsible for 30 per cent of all cancer cases reported in the third world, adding that half of its regular users failed to survive.

Dietary Management was also cited as an important aspect to avoid the disease. Diet rich in vegetable and fruits was recommended for people in general.

With regard to measures adopted at government and private sector levels for the treatment of the disease, he said continuous progress had also been made in the fields of radiology, histopathology, haematology and molecular biology, which had been of considerable help to the oncologists.

He also underscored the need for a preventive oriented “National Control Programme for Cancer”. — APP