GURUGRAM: On the eve of World Cancer Day on Thursday, the city has decided to adopt a two-pronged approach — home care and early detection — in its fight against the disease that kills 17 people every minute worldwide. As part of the plan, registered cancer patients in the city will get access to free home consultation. The health department will also conduct large-scale screening of residents at Civil Hospital in Sector 10 to detect the disease at the earliest.
While there are 122 cancer patients registered with city government hospitals at present, there is no data available on the ones registered with private hospitals. During home visits by doctors, these 122 patients can show documents like electricity or phone bills, voter ID, Aadhaar, driving licence and government ID as proof of residence. For the screening exercise, residents can themselves registered by visiting the nearest primary healthcare centre. If required, a biopsy will be carried out later. If the person is detected with cancer, a card will be generated for follow-up.
Initially, the home visits will be monthly. A two-member team of a doctor and a nurse will be sent to monitor the condition of cancer patients. “We have prepared a micro-plan that we will share with the Haryana government. At present, cancer patients are getting a travel card that helps them to get access to doctors at hospitals in the state. Our doctors and nurses will now visit them at home so that the patients and their attendants don’t have to face any inconvenience,” said Dr Isha Narang, nodal officer of cancer treatment in Gurugram.
The pandemic has severely affected cancer patients, who require constant medical support and frequent hospital visits that got delayed last year. The new programme will focus on e-consultations with cancer care teams so that the patients can avoid large crowds. “Many patients delayed hospital visits because of Covid-19 and lost crucial time,” said Gurugram chief medical officer Virender Yadav.
Many missed their chemotherapy sessions, follow-up and scans, doctors said. “We are getting cases of advanced cancer due to the delays,” said Dr Bhuvan Chugh, consultant, medical oncology, Max Hospital.