Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Hospital plans community cancer care

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: G. Kuppuswamy Naidu Memorial Hospital here is working out a tie-up with World Health Organisation (WHO) for a major community cancer care programme in Coimbatore region.

Announcing this along with many other cancer care initiatives planned, Director of the Valavadi Narayanaswamy Cancer Centre at the hospital, T. Balaji, told pressperson on Thursday that the plan was at a preliminary stage and that the proposals had been sent to WHO.

When implemented, it would be a significant step towards outreach cancer care under which the rural population could be brought under an integrated system of detection, treatment, counselling and palliative care. "We may function as a tertiary cancer care centre for this region and plan to have a stem cell transplant centre also," Dr. Balaji said.

Even as this programme was taking shape, the hospital had already begun such a community oncology care at its rural outreach centre at Veerapandi.

The programme in association with WHO would help in detecting cancer at an early stage so that it can be cured, he said. For this, the genetic predisposition to cancer (with a family history) had to be identified. Counselling and awareness generation would help in sensitising people to the need for early detection in such high-risk groups.

Other doctors of the cancer centre said that a tumour registry would be created, containing statistics relating to the demographic pattern.

The centre would have magic shows and joke sessions for children with cancer.

Meditation and yoga classes and also music therapy session would be held for the adults.

The hospital's 24-hour free cancer helpline has been launched. The hospital has tied-up with cellular phone service provider Airtel for a toll free number 99449 77000. Airtel would also send this number to 50,000 customers through its short messaging service so that they could contact the centre for information on the disease.

Doctors and counsellors of the cancer centre would provide information on diagnosis, treatment, side-effects and also terminal care or hospice.

As part of integrating various cancer care services into one comprehensive unit, the Coimbatore Cancer Foundation that was functioning at the hospital since 1991 would contribute largely to counselling through its cancer support clubs.

The clubs would serve as a meeting place for adults and children living with cancer and their friends and family members.

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