Surguja: Cancer is a dreaded disease even as it can now be cured. The treatment of the disease is costly and often beyond the reach of people with limited means.
But an urban health centre in Surguja has given a new ray of hope to poor cancer patients. Oncologists of the health center, not only treat cancer patients, but also show them a new way to live. The centre located within Ambikapur's urban health centre at Navapara is no less than a boon for poor cancer patients. The centre has facilities found in reputed hospitals. It also has a pain and palliative ward. This apart, a sickle cell unit has been established in the health centre.
During Covid-19, the centre delivered medicines to a record number of people at their doorsteps. The health centre at Navapara was adjudged the best CHC in the country in the ENQUOS survey conducted the Union Health Ministry.
Dr Himanshu Gupta said chemotherapy was started at the centre in 2020. "We have conducted chemotherapy on around 610 cancer patients here and more than 3,500 chemo sessions have been done at the centre till date," he said.
Dr Gupta said recently a patient needed to be given chemo from his bladder. "The procedure requires presence of a nephrologist. But we took the help of senior doctors and for the first time in Navapara, chemo from the bladder was conducted," he said, adding the patient from West Bengal was cured of the disease.
Cancer patient Preeti Rani Mukherjee's sister and brother-in-law live in Sarguja. They brought her here and got her treated for breast cancer. Preeti Rani's brother-in-law Anil Chakraborty said their family did not have enough funds for her treatment. "A surgery was conducted at Mission Hospital. But then we came to know about Navapara Hospital. The doctors here conducted chemotherapy on Preeti Rani free of cost. She is fine now," he said.
