Goa partners with govt, pvt hospitals to explore ayurvedic treatment for cancers

Panaji: For the first time in India, Goa govt, semi-govt hospitals and private hospitals will come together to conduct research to find out whether ayurveda-based treatment can be an alternative for cancer patients. This collaborative effort aims to explore the potential benefits of ayurveda in cancer care.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting with Tata Memorial Hospital to discuss the ‘Goa Integrative Oncology Initiative, ‘aimed at integrating ayurveda and allopathy for cancer treatment and fostering research in cancer care. “We will establish a research cell in Goa. Tata Memorial Hospital will give the standard operating procedure for treatment,” Sawant told TOI.

The research cell in Goa will discuss the observations of the study every 15 days.

The meeting was attended by Tata Memorial Centre director Dr Sudeep Gupta, All India Institute of Ayurveda dean Dr Sujata Kadam and BJP medical cell Goa state convener and surgical oncologist Dr Shekhar Salkar, among others.

“This collaborative effort involves Tata Memorial Hospital, Ayush cell of directorate of health services (DHS), All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), and Gomantak Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya. I am confident that this initiative will significantly strengthen healthcare, with a special focus on advanced cancer treatment,” Sawant said and added that Goa will be the first state in India to conduct such research.

He said that Tata Memorial Hospital has already started conducting an integrated study and they have set up a 300-bedded hospital at Khopoli in Maharashtra.

The CM, who is an ayurvedic practitioner, took the initiative to find out if ayurveda can be an alternative for cancer treatment, which could be cost-effective.

During the meeting, it was decided that stage IV cancer patients would be identified for the research and the same number of patients would be provided two different treatments — ayurveda and allopathy — after the consent of patients and their families. Every 15 days, doctors will discuss the progress based on the treatment given by different practitioners.

“It would be a long-term study. If there is a better outcome from ayurveda-based treatment on stage IV cancer patients in terms of pain relief and cost of treatment, then doctors can conduct research on stage III cancer patients and so on. It won’t be fair to put stage I cancer patients on ayurveda treatment,” a doctor at the meeting said.

A doctor said that to recommend ayurveda treatment to cancer patients, the research should be conducted by a reputed institution and the research should be published in a reputed journal; then only will people trust ayurveda treatment. At present, some people willingly opt for ayurvedic treatment, but to recommend it, one needs the backing of science.