Oncologists want Tamil Nadu government to ensure morphine availability
Morphine is made available to lessen the agony of cancer patients
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-12-21 07:14 GMT
Chennai: With cancer burden in India set to increase by 20 per cent and TN alone likely to account for 88,847 new cases, oncologists have urged the Centre to relax norms and ensure morphine is made available to lessen the agony of cancer patients.
According to S.S. Mitra, consultant, clinical oncology, Sussex Cancer Network, only 10 per cent of morphine is made available in India while the rest is exported. The government should relax norms and ensure that this cheap drug is available for oncologists to prescribe to cancer patients. He also claimed that there is a need for more palliative care service across the country.
Dr Somasundaram Subramanian, director, Eurasaian Federation of Oncology, said cancer should be notified as a disease in India to facilitate not only reporting of cases but also to compile data on its prevalence. In Russia, cancer cases are closely monitored and patients referred to institutions with best facilities, he added.
Prof Ramesh S. Bilimagga, organising secretary of Indian Cancer Congress, said the prevalance of oncology cases in India is 28 lakhs. Participating in the third edition of international meeting on clinical practice, guidelines in oncology, organised by Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Dr Anitha Ramesh, professor, medical oncology of SRMC, says the symposium also discussed various challenges faced by oncologists in the management of cancer cases.