Cancer patients, requiring a bone marrow transplant, can now get it done at affordable costs at the State-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology.
To ensure that no patient battling cancer is deprived of timely treatment, a bone marrow transplant centre has been set up at the institute. Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar inaugurated the facility on Tuesday on the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day.
“Bone marrow transplants are expensive surgeries which the poor cannot afford in private hospitals. The new facility at Kidwai will ensure no one is deprived of cancer treatment,” he said.
Kidwai Director C. Ramachandra said a total of seven patients, including three children, are in the waitlist for bone marrow transplant. “Two children have already undergone stem cell harvesting and will be taken up for transplant after three weeks,” the doctor said.
Pointing out that the incidence of childhood cancers is on the rise, Dr. Ramachandra said efforts were on to create more awareness on childhood cancers. “Most childhood cancers are curable if treated early. Our appeal to parents is to watch out for symptoms such as persistent fever, weight loss, loss of appetite and lumps in the body in children and seek medical advice without any delay,” he said.
In Karnataka, out of the annual average of 87,304 cases, 1,323 (3.1%) cases are children. Among this, 679 are boys and 644 girls.. Leukemia, brain tumour, lymphomas and neuroblastoma are leading cancers in children. A total of 758 new cases of childhood cancer were registered at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology last year accounting for 5% of all cancers, with leukemia being the most common type.
Over four lakh screened for cancer
The State has screened 4.24 lakh people for cancer in a mega cancer screening week-long drive held from February 4 on the occasion of World Cancer Day. Of these, while 405 persons have been diagnosed with cancers, 2,539 have been referred for further investigation, according to a tweet by Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.
