The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Treatment for cancer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 24, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Treatment for cancer

Sahana Charan

Bangalore: In an era of medical tourism and high tech medicine, there is also another side to healthcare — the high cost of treatment.

For those diagnosed with cancer, the burden is not just physical but also psychological and economical.

For a patient with breast cancer, surgery may cost around Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 in a corporate hospital, while chemotherapy may cost up to Rs. 50,000 per cycle.

Radiation therapy, which 50 per cent of breast cancer patients need, may cost anything between Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 60,000.

“If a patient with cancer is diagnosed early, many of them can be cured. But most patients present themselves in the later stages, which brings down their chances of survival,” said M.S. Ganesh, Chief, Department of Oncology at Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) here.

“Moreover, there is a tendency to discontinue the treatment midway because of the prolonged treatment process involved in cancer and the cost,” he added.

Affordable treatment

The newly-started department has treated around 200 patients since March and has managed to strike a balance between affordable treatment for cancer and viability for their centre.

According to Dr. Ganesh, cutting treatment costs at the hospital level can go a long way in providing affordable cancer care.

“Careful and judicial use of consumables and incorporating homemade items can reduce the cost by 10 per cent for every procedure performed; limiting unnecessary antibiotic and drug usage reduces cost by five to seven per cent while limiting hospital stay reduces costs by 15 per cent.”

He added that avoiding unnecessary procedures and unwanted consultations can bring down the cost by 20 per cent. “We have decided that palliative care for terminally ill cancer patients will be provided free of cost and we have also tied up with voluntary centres for providing palliative care to patients,” he said.

Dr. Ganesh said that deciding to stop treatment at an appropriate time and providing palliative care without any cost in the case of terminally ill patients is the ethical thing to do.

“Having a fund development programme helps in the case of patients who are poor. The hospital also has its own fund programme to which the staff contribute regularly,” said Marie Nympha, counsellor and funds co-ordinator at the hospital.

For details call the hospital on 28413381.

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