COIMBATORE: Though a number of efforts have been taken to set up hospitals and involve non-Governmental organisations for cancer treatment and the spreading of awareness on the disease, much needs to be done in terms of palliative care, District Collector P. Umanath said here on Thursday. Though funds came for hospitals, the focus on the terminal cases was inadequate, the Collector said after flagging off ‘Life at Doorstep’, a palliative care on wheels project of Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Oncology and Research (SRIOR). The launch of the project to provide palliative care at the houses of the terminally ill marked the World Cancer Day. Director of the institute P. Guhan said the mobile unit (in a van) would have a doctor, two nurses, emergency medicines and life-saving equipment. Any cancer patient whose condition deteriorated could call the unit (phone number: 95976-22622) for treatment at home. The patients could be taken to the hospitals where they were undergoing cancer treatment and need not necessarily be patients of SRIOR, Dr. Guhan said. This service would be available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.

By evening on Thursday, the mobile unit got its first call to treat a woman cancer patient at Town Hall. The mobile unit would cover 40 sq km, providing first aid or symptom-relieving treatment at the houses of the patients.

Courtesy - Hindu