A way forward for cancer services in J&K
Govind Sharma
To provide adequate specialized treatment to the growing number of cancer patients in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, the then Union Government in the year 2014-2015 had announced establishment of two State Cancer Institutes (SCIs) in J&K, one at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura in Srinagar and another at Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu at a cost of Rs 120 crore each.
The ultimate motive of the Government was to provide all type of services including screening, treatment and surgeries to the cancer patients in both the regions of the State so that they did not need to go to the neighbouring states by spending their hard earned money. While as State cancer Institute in Srinagar was made fully functional in the year 2019, the SCI Jammu was made functional on 4th February this year on the occasion of World Cancer Day, when Secretary Health and Medical Education Bhupinder Kumar inaugurated the OPD services to kick start cancer services in SCI Jammu.
“The five-storey building of the State Cancer Institute Jammu has been built on a large open space available in the complex of Super Specialty Hospital Jammu. The Institute has been established at an estimated cost of Rs 120 crore under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, CVD and Stroke (NPCDCS), to address the gross deficiencies for cancer treatment and diagnosis in J&K.
This apex institute for cancer-related treatment will provide outreach services, diagnosis, and referral treatments, develop treatment protocols and undertake cancer research to enhance the efficacy of treatment in J&K. The five-storey building of SCI Jammu is housing five key departments—Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Preventive Oncology and Palliative Care Oncology Clinic and every department will provide specific cancer care services to the patients unlike earlier when all types of cancer care services were provided by department of Radiotherapy ,GMC Jammu.
Giving an overview of the services being provided in different departments of SCI Jammu, Dr Rajeev Gupta (Professor and Head, Department of Medical Oncology, SCI Jammu) said that every Department has its own role. He said Medical Oncology Department deals in cancer treatment using chemotherapy, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy while Surgical Oncology Department treats different types of cancer through surgical procedures.
“The faculty at the Department of Surgical Oncology is capable of performing a diverse range of oncological surgeries in the areas of Head & Neck cancer, Breast Cancer, Soft Tissue Sarcomas, Gastrointestinal malignancies and Gynaecological cancers,” he said, adding soon all these surgeries will be done in modular theatres of SCI Jammu as some minor works of these theatres are still underway. The Pain Clinic in Palliative Oncology will work for the management of cancer-related pain in the patients with facilities like radio frequency ablation.
Dr Rajeev said that doctors of Radiation Therapy Department treat the cancer with controlled use of ionizing radiation in cancer treatment as primary therapy or as adjuvant along with surgery/chemotherapy while Department of Preventive Oncology focuses on creating awareness among the public about the need to screen for early detection of cancer, besides providing screening for different types of cancers in the OPD as well as through community based cancer detection camps.
He further shared that presently SCI is giving OPD and Day Care Chemotherapy services and in few months Radiotherapy and PET Scan services will also be started here as one high-end Radiotherapy and one Brachytherapy machines are about to come soon. “Other host of services like bone marrow transplant services, ICU and cancer rehabilitation services will also be available soon in SCI Jammu,” he added.
“The prevalence of cancer disease is 75 per 1 lakh people in J&K as compared to the national average of 100.4 per 1 lakh people, whereas the incidence of lung cancer is higher in the UT followed by stomach cancer,” Dr Rajeev Gupta shared and maintained that the SCI Jammu would significantly improve the cancer care services in Jammu region by providing comprehensive services to the suffering patients.
He revealed that a separate Cancer Rehabilitation Department with all physiotherapy equipments needed for rehabilitation of treated cancer patients is also being created in SCI Jammu and this will allow such patients to lead a normal life after they are cured from cancer.
Another important feature at SCI Jammu, he said, is establishment of a Tumor Board the purpose of which is to provide best care possible for the patient by taking input from all those who are concerned and responsible for treatment. “Each doctor responsible advices according to his or her area of speciality and a final plan is reached upon which is then conveyed to the patient or the family. It includes the way patient would be treated, in terms of whether he will require surgery or chemotherapy or radiotherapy or any two or all three and the sequence of in which these would be used,” he added.
“Very soon, we will do 1st Bone Marrow Transplant here in SCI Jammu,” Dr Gupta said, adding, the most important thing is that all patients are getting free treatment in this Institute under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme which provides free of cost health insurance cover to all the residents of the UT of J&K, up to Rs 5 lakh per family.
Dr Gupta further disclosed that in a very short time, the Institute will start teleoncology services for peripheral hospitals including new Government Medical Colleges established in Kathua, Doda, Rajouri and Udhampur districts. He also revealed that the Department of Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology of SCI Jammu are all set to get 4 and 2 DNB seats, respectively, which will be a major achievement for the Institute.
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