LAHORE: Health facilities for the cancer patients are deplorable and “at their worst in Punjab”.

Since no additional treatment facilities have been provided during the tenure of the incumbent government for the patients who have been diagnosed with various types of cancer, the situation has compounded their problems.

A recently prepared report by four senior (serving) doctors has presented shocking figures in respect of availability of oncologists, diagnostic and other facilities for the cancer patients in the government sector hospitals of the largest province.

They have compiled the first comprehensive study on the health facilities in the hospitals on the basis of the local and international health organisations including the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR).

The report states there is only one cancer centre for the 13,750,000 population in Punjab and one radiotherapy machine for 22,000,000 population.

Similarly, only one medical oncologist is available for 22,000,000 population and one radiotherapist for 13,750,000 population.

The report further states that there is one indoor bed for 464,000 population and one cancer specialist for 6,460,000 population.

The senior oncologists also highlight patient ratio against the health facilities in the report which states there is only one cancer centre for 12,500 patients.

There is only one radiotherapy machine for 20,000 patients, one medical oncologist for 20,000 patients, a radiotherapist for 12,500 patients, an indoor bed for 427 patients and a cancer specialist is available for 7,692 patients.

The report states that only eight teaching hospitals out of 45 are housing cancer treatment centres in Punjab. They are Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, Nishtar Hospital, Multan, Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawal Victoria Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital, Sargodha.

It states that according to the standard recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), the strength of the beds required for the cancer patients in Punjab should be 2,000 while it is critically short of 1,764 beds.

Similarly, it is short of 477 oncologists to meet the standard requirement of 590 medics as recommended by the WHO.

The study unveils that at present only 13 consultants, five medical oncologists and eight radiotherapists are working at the eight cancer centres. Five of the eight teaching hospitals of Punjab are housing 234 indoor beds for the huge number of cancer patients, the report says.

There are only five radiation machines for the cancer patients in four centres of Punjab, reads the report, adding that the four other government hospitals have no radiation machines. These are Bahawal Victoria Hospital, DHQ Hospital, Sargodha, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore.

The report also takes up a very serious issue of blatant human rights violation, stating that there is unavailability of the drug morhphine or its derivatives in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, for the patients visiting with acute pain and in advance stage of the disease.

It states that the oncologists in Punjab are facing troubles in controlling the pain of 80 per cent of the metastatic cancer patients due to the unavailability of medicines.

“The PET scan is an essential test needed in the course staging work up and response assessment, particularly in certain blood cancers. But this test is not available at any cancer centre in Punjab,” reveals the report.

It further states that approximately 80,000 cancer patients are dying every year in Punjab while the patients living with cancer or cancer survivors are estimated at 200,000.

According to the report, Punjab has registered 100,000 new cancer patients in 2018. The number of patients who could not be registered owing to the scarcity of the healthcare facilities in Punjab is terribly high, says the report.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2019