Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at World Cancer Day function said Goa has good healthcare insurance schemes.
By Pankajbala R Patel
It was World Cancer Day on February 4 and focusing on on the big C which is still perceived as a dreaded disease Dr Anil D’Cruz (president of the Geneva-based Union for International Cancer Control) urged Goans to make lifestyle changes in their life. He was giving the keynote address at a function held to mark World Cancer Day at a Panaji resort hotel on February 4, 2021. The function was organized by the Gokarma Oncology Association to mark the day.
Dr D’Cruz observed that in the past cancer was predominantly a Western country’s scenario but in recent year the disease has been making inroads in India and south Asia. At one time, said two-thirds of cancer came from the developed world while one-cases were from the developing world; but alas, the scenario is changing rapidly and now the pendulum is swinging and India and the Asian countries will be bearing the brunt of the epidemic by 2025.
In Goa particularly where cancers of lifestyle are on the rise, much more needs to be done to raise awareness. At the Geneva-based Union for Cancer Control he has been addressing several webiners and it is fact that cancer statistics have been climbing steadily from 12 million in 2012 to 18 million in 2018 and now it is 19.3 million in 2020. It is something to worry about and they at the Union looking towards a cancer control plan along with a strong and precise cancer registry in place in Goa so that the disease may be treated in Goa itself without requiring the need for patients to go to Mumbai or Belgaum for hospital care.
Cancer treatment has been changing dramatically and now programs focus on prevention, early detection and start of treatment palliation care. Personally, he confessed, he finds Goa a fine place and loves to visit but he also feels that as far as cancer is concerned patients benefit most by being treated in totality in their home state; he urged the powers that be to put together a cancer control plan and they at the UICC would be delighted to help in this regard. A cancer control plan along with a strong and precise cancer registry is of paramount importance. Goa enjoys higher standards of living and henceforth, he said, it was also vulnerable to certain cancers – cancer has oftentimes proved to be the fall out of a life lived indifferently, people across the social strata should shun addictions of smoking, alcoholism and consuming wrong foods.
Present at the function were Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane who both stressed that Goans were the best off in the country vis-à-vis health care for cancer patients in Goa benefitted from both the Arogya Yojana and DDSS schemes. But there was need for more private-public partnerships in bringing cancer hi tech equipment to Goa. The CM said he was keen to boost medical tourism in the State and would be looking into this aspect.
Health Minister Rane rued the fact that a majority of cancer patients come for treatment in terminal stages when little can be done. Early detection and standard treatment protocol in place would make a lot of difference. Earlier oncologist Dr Shekhar Salkar in his address had said that the big challenge in cancer treatment today is to save organ failure and this is possible only with early detection and commencement of treatment.
The evening without being lively given the still grim Covid-19 scenario had a modest gathering of cancer doctors and members of the medical fraternity, socializing and discussing cancer impacts and how it takes a toll on life in Goa. These days it is hard to tell which is worse, the big C or Covid-19! Some doctors could be heard confessing that there is a need for doctors too to take themselves seriously when it comes lifestyle changes and being fitness conscious. There is need for doctors to redress their own hectic, stressed lifestyles — by making dietary changes as well reviewing their rest and recreation quotient.