250-350 new pediatric cancer patients visit every year:  AIIMS Bhubaneswar

In a startling revelation, at least 250-350 children with cancer visit AIIMS Bhubaneswar every year. Till now, over 1,200 children with cancer have visited the premier medical institute in the state. This was revealed during a special cancer awareness programme organised by the AIIMS Bhubaneswar.

Apart from Odisha, patients from neighbouring West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand visit the medical institute every year to seek cancer treatment. Shockingly, AIIMS Bhubaneswar is the only government medical institute in the state to provide healthcare facilities to children diagnosed with cancer.

Even as the government makes tall claims of providing the best cancer care and treatment at affordable prices, the number of cancer patients increasing in the state at a faster speed than expected poses a serious threat to the healthcare system.

Earlier, the Odisha government had planned to spend Rs 1001 crore in the next two years under its Comprehensive Cancer Service (CSS) to provide the best cancer care and treatment at an affordable price to the patients.

The most common types of childhood cancers are leukaemias, brain cancers, lymphomas, and solid tumours like Neuroblastomas and Wilms tumours.

“The burden of childhood cancers is high in low and middle-income families due to significant barriers in early diagnosis, inability to accurately diagnose, poor access to health care facilities and inability to initiate treatment promptly,” said a doctor of AIIMS Oncology-Hematology Department.

However, he assured that at least 75-80% of children with cancer could be cured if they are provided with accurate care facilities and proper treatment after early diagnosis.

“Most childhood cancers can be cured provided that the malignancies are brought to the notice of doctors at an early stage. Lack of awareness, treatment refusal, and financial constraints are among the prime reasons for seeking the right medical care,” the doctor said.

AIIMS Bhubaneswar aims to focus on spreading awareness about childhood cancers and their symptoms, it was learnt.