Odisha Health minister Naba Das on Saturday said that he has taken cognizance of the plights the patients are forced to undergo at the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre in Cuttack and immediate steps will be taken in this regard.
On the sidelines of an event in Jharsuguda, Das said, “We cannot control the heat. The only thing under our control is to provide water, shelter and other facilities to ease their suffering.”
“The matter has come to my notice. I have already spoken to the Director of AHRCC. We are taking concrete steps in this connection,” Das asserted.
AHRCC, the biggest cancer hospital in Odisha, is apparently grappling to accommodate patients and their attendants even in this scorching heat. OTV had earlier visited AHRCC and showed how hundreds of cancer patients and their relatives are being left in open at the mercy of God. The sight of patients lying in open in this scorching heat while writhing in pain will definitely make anybody’s heart skip a beat.
When asked around, OTV came to know that almost all of the patients lying outside hail from poor background. While they can’t afford the rent of lodges or inns, the hospital also doesn’t have any facility to provide them a shelter.
At a time when the government is claiming that it is spending crores of money to provide people with better health facilities, the scenes at AHRCC showed a different tale altogether.
It seemed all have closed their eyes to the sufferings of these patients, leaving them to fend for themselves. However, after OTV aired the news on Thursday, Minister Naba Das today broke his silence on the matter and assured of immediate measures to provide respite to the patients.