State to get 100-bed palliative care hospital: Minister

PATNA: State health minister Mangal Pandey on Friday said a 100-bed palliative care hospital is being established in Bihar."The health department is going to register Cancer Care and Research Society keeping in mind six areas — prevention and early detection, screening, treatment (chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy), palliative care services, research and educational activities, and infrastructure," he said.Pandey added cancer screening is being conducted in all 38 districts, daycare chemotherapy is available in 17 districts and palliative care in 23 districts, while free cancer medicines are being distributed in the district hospitals. The govt will further strengthen the treatment facilities, he said after a meeting held with Homi Bhabha Cancer Institute, Muzaffarpur.The minister added free HPV vaccination drive was being conducted for girls aged nine to 14 years to prevent cervical cancer. He also called for a qualitative increase in the tobacco control programme ahead of the World No-Tobacco Day on May 31, to reduce mouth and throat cancers in Bihar. The office of Bihar Cancer Care and Research Society will be in the Health Bhavan, he added. Additional chief secretary (health) Pratyaya Amrit; secretary Manoj Kumar Singh; MD of BMSIC, Dharmendra Kumar; executive director, State Health Committee, Suharsh Bhagat; CEO (Bihar Health Security Committee) Shashank Shekhar Sinha; and Dr Ravikant Singh, in charge of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Muzaffarpur, were among those who attended the meeting.