New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Discontent has surfaced in Bargarh district following the reply given by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Lok Sabha regarding facilities at the cancer hospital constructed at the Bargarh District Headquarters Hospital. The response came in reply to an unstarred question raised by Bargarh MP Pradeep Purohit and has drawn sharp reaction from the Fighters Group.
In Question No. 3591, MP Pradeep Purohit raised concerns about the rising number of cancer cases in Odisha and the treatment difficulties faced by patients from western Odisha districts such as Bargarh, Sambalpur and Balangir. He sought details on the status of the cancer hospital constructed at Bargarh at an estimated cost of about Rs 138 crore and asked how far the facility has become functional. The MP also enquired whether doctors and staff have been appointed at the hospital and whether the Central Government has any proposal to introduce advanced services such as PET-CT scanning, radiation therapy and ICU facilities.
Replying to the question, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav informed the Lok Sabha that, according to information provided by the Odisha Government, the construction of the cancer hospital building at the Bargarh District Headquarters Hospital has been completed and the facility has been handed over to the district hospital authorities. He stated that OPD services for cancer screening, consultation and follow-up are currently being conducted at the hospital.
The minister further stated that imaging facilities such as CT scan, ultrasonography and X-ray are available along with diagnostic services including biopsy, histopathology and molecular diagnosis. The reply also mentioned that a 20-bed inpatient ward is available and chemotherapy services are being provided by trained doctors and nurses. Specialists including ENT doctors, obstetricians and gynaecologists, surgeons and anaesthesiologists have also been deployed for cancer screening and treatment.
However, expressing strong dissatisfaction with the reply, Fighters Group president Aswini Kumar Darjee first thanked MP Pradeep Purohit for raising the issue in Parliament but said that although a cancer wing exists at the Bargarh District Headquarters Hospital, most of the facilities mentioned in the Lok Sabha reply are not actually available on the ground. At present, only chemotherapy services are operational while many other essential facilities are yet to start, he said.
Darjee added that despite huge public expenditure on constructing the hospital building, the absence of full-fledged medical services is both unfortunate and concerning. He warned that if the hospital is not made fully functional at the earliest, the massive structure could eventually turn into a “ghost building”.
Along with the minister’s reply, district-wise data on cancer cases reported in Odisha through the Hospital Based Cancer Registry (HBCR) and Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) was also attached. According to the data, the number of reported cancer patients includes Cuttack (5,329), Jajpur (2,627), Kendrapara (2,095), Balasore (1,897), Jagatsinghpur (1,824), Bhadrak (1,581), Khordha (1,454), Puri (1,383), Mayurbhanj (1,001), Keonjhar (962), Ganjam (953), Dhenkanal (951), Nayagarh (713), Sundargarh (569), Angul (542), Kalahandi (417), Balangir (342), Bargarh (295), Sambalpur (275), Koraput (200), Boudh (180), Kandhamal (160), Nabarangpur (158), Jharsuguda (146), Rayagada (144), Subarnapur (140), Nuapada (110), Deogarh (102), Malkangiri (71) and Gajapati (45).
Commenting on the figures, Darjee said the data represents only a limited picture of the actual situation and that the real number of cancer patients can be understood only through field-level assessment. He asserted that the figures mentioned in the report may reflect barely about 10 percent of the actual cancer burden.
He further pointed out that many cancer patients from western Odisha are still forced to travel outside the state for advanced treatment. In view of this, he demanded that the government urgently take steps to make the Bargarh cancer hospital fully operational with all advanced treatment facilities so that patients in the region can receive proper care closer to home.
