Kerala's cancer aid fails to reach poor

KOCHI: Even as the number of cancer patients increases  in the state, the financial support being provided by the state government to BPL and other patients under Karunya and Sukritham schemes is  failing to reach  the needy in the absence of enough cancer care facilities in the government sector. “Many patients are not able to afford the highly expensive cancer care in private hospitals and hence suffer in wilderness. The Sukritham scheme which is exclusively for cancer patients has been stuck for some time. Each patient is eligible to get Rs 2 lakh under the scheme and there are talks of reviving it now,” said Dr Junaid Rehman, former DMO, Ernakulam.

Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha and Kottayam medical colleges don’t have any medical or surgical oncologist while Thrissur and Kozhikode medical colleges have surgical oncologists. All these five MCs have radiation oncologists. In the government sector,  General Hospital, Ernakulam, Pariyaram medical college, Thrissur GH and Kozhencherry taluk hospital have cancer specialists. Apart from these, the other centres in the government sector are RCC, MCC and Cochin Cancer Research Centre.

“However, these centres cannot support all the cancer patients and for many patients the care in private hospitals is unaffordable. The Karunya and Sukritham schemes currently do not cover the care given in private hospitals and it’s time the government reversed it so that cancer patients are not left in wilderness,” said Dr Junaid Rehman.

He also said that the Karunya Benevolent Fund Scheme covers only BPL patients up to treatment for Rs 2 lakh while Sukritham which is exclusively for cancer patients has no BPL stipulation. “Karunya also covers liver, neurology and cardiac diseases and a handful of accredited private hospitals which are ready to offer treatment at the rates fixed by the government are covered under it. Cancer is not covered anywhere now,” Dr Junaid Rehman added. Kerala already has eight lakh cancer patients and every year,  52,000 new patients are added and there is an acute dearth of cancer specialists in the state as well. A total of 10 private hospitals in the state offer advanced cancer treatment while six private hospitals have the services of cancer specialists.