Bhubaneswar: About 50,000 cancer patients are identified in Odisha every year.
Sources in the Health and Family Welfare Department said that while about 35,000-36,000 cancer patients are admitted at the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre in Cuttack and 15,000-16,000 patients of the state in different cancer hospitals outside the state every year. About one-third of the patients succumb to the disease.
As of now, there are about 1.5 lakh cancer survivors in Odisha.
To bring down the mortality rate, the state government has set up an antibody testing centre a molecular biology laboratory at the SCB Medical College and Hospital. While chemotherapy units have been set up in the private and district headquarters hospitals, daycare centres have been set up at the Capital Hospital and Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) for chemotherapy and palliative care. Besides, the radiotherapy units have been set up at the Acharya Harihar, MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla.
Apart from this, the state government has also decided to set up a cancer research institute at the Capital Hospital.
