Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 5: The state government will soon provide expensive drugs for treatment of cancer for free at the proposed drug distribution centres (DDCs) at the district headquarters hospitals (DHHs) and three medical colleges in the state.
“The government has revised the essential drugs list by incorporating about 16 high-cost cancer drugs. Earlier, this was six. These drugs will soon be made freely available at the DDCs for the poor who are unable to afford the treatment cost,” said National Health Mission director Roopa Mishra.
The government also plans to set up non-communicable diseases (NCD) cells and intensive care units (ICUs) for cancer affected at the DHHs and the medical colleges. As of now, about seven NCD cells and an equal number of ICUs are functioning at the DHHs.
“The work on the other proposed NCD cells and ICUs is being undertaken on a war footing and we hope that the project will be completed by the end of the fiscal,” said NCD cell joint director PKB Pattnaik.
About six lakh people in the state are diagnosed with various types of cancer every year, with the mortality figure standing at about 30,000. Mouth cancer accounts for the largest number of cancer patients in the state, followed by breast cancer.
