Picture used for representational purpose only

KOLKATA: The statistics are overwhelming — a mere 1,000 beds in Kolkata for 50,000 cancer patients in Bengal, who include 15,000 new patients added annually — and explain why the promised cancer unit at SSKM Hospital, part of Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee ’s Doctors’ Day announcements, is such a sorely felt necessity.

There are other numbers that explain why the situation is so desperate. Around 55% of the new patients added every year come to doctors when the disease is already in an advanced stage, which explains why patients and their kin often complain of “ineffective treatment”; it also explains the added pressure on doctors and hospitals.

These bed-patient discrepancy also contributes to the situation in which around half of Bengal’s 50,000 cancer patients at any given time are forced to go to other states for treatment, say cancer specialists, explaining why any addition to the number of beds is “a desperate need and more than welcome”.

An average cancer patient here also has to wait eight weeks for a surgery at the state’s leading hospital, the Institite of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research, which again underlines the importance of the promised cancer unit at SSKM Hospital. The situation has been compounded by the fact that the last substantial addition to the number of beds in Kolkata happened in 2010, that too in the private sector ( Apollo Gleneagles).

“All these factors explain why so much of hope rests on this proposed facility. It may not be able to take care of the entire burden but will definitely bring more into the treatment fold,” IPGMER surgeon Diptendra K Sarkar said. “A substantial number now dies early because the disease is detected late. Another sizeable section is forced to give up treatment because of the cost factor,” he added.

Suggestions, too, have followed Monday’s announcemen. The new unit should have a dormitory for patients’ kin. “A large number discontinues treatment because of the need to shuttle between home and Kolkata, which often becomes difficult, and taking up residence in Kolkata is expensive,” veteran oncologist Subir Ganguly said. “Along with bed strength and palliative care, we need to ensure that patients from the interiors have a place to stay during treatment. Logistical barriers prevent many from visiting Kolkata. As this results in advanced-stage detection being on the rise and this pushes up the mortality rate,” he felt.

Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute director Arnab Gupta agreed. “Lack of resources is the biggest constraint in cancer treatment in Bengal. Most patients cannot afford treatment at private hospitals but the number of beds at state hospitals in inadequate. So a large number seeks treatment in other states,” Gupta said.

A senior IPGMER surgeon termed the promised unit an opportunity to extend latest cancer treatment to the less privileged. He has already written to the IPGMER authorities, asking them to seek an “international collaboration” for the unit and build it up as a “knowledge-sharing platform” that will raise the standard of treatment. “We can seek consultations from the best oncologists around the world through video- and tele-conferencing and have research collaborations apart from exchange programme,” the surgeon said.

Cancer patients are considered “survivors” if they live for at least five years from the date of diagnosis. “They are the lucky minority who receive specialised treatment early,” pointed out oncologist Gautam Mukhopadhyay. “Unfortunately, this number has been declining over the years. This ought to be linked to poor symptom-recognition in early stages, which is crucial. Some forms of the disease like lung, liver, gall bladder or uterine cancers are difficult to spot but physicians should be more cautious and not take chances. They must remember that time is a huge factor in cancer treatment and a few weeks can spell the difference between life and death,” he added.

