7,000 cancer patients receive treatment from SWMCC

By Mahima Devkota, Kathmandu, Sept. 7: A total of 7,000 cancer patients have received treatment from the newly built Suresh Wagle Memorial Cancer Center in a year.

Addressing an inauguration programme of the Suresh Wagle Memorial Cancer Center under the T.U Teaching Hospital, Prof. Dr Yogendra Prasad Singh, Coordinator of the SWMCC Infrastructure Committee, said that about 7,000* visits were made by the cancer patients in a year since it came into oepration.

The center will help in the early detection of cancer which has a mortality rate as high as 73 per cent in the country and can provide comprehensive care to cancer patients who usually have many chronic conditions and needs multi-specialty treatment.

Dr Singh said, “Around 30,000 new cases of cancer get diagnosed in Nepal, of which, around 22,000 new cases face mortality and the number can rise to 50,000 if old cases are added as well. Therefore, strong cancer care is required in the country, which is being fulfilled by the center.”

The Suresh Wagle Memorial Cancer Center was built in memory of Suresh Wagle, who was a member of the CPN (Maoist Center) Politburo and lost his life during the insurgency period. The foundation was laid by former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai in 2012. It took 10 years to complete the building. It came into emergency use a year ago because of the need to provide care to COVID-19 patients.

Prof. Dr Divya Singh Shah, Dean of the T.U Teaching Hospital, said that despite the hurdles, the center was finally completed after 10 years of diligent attempts.

She said, “In the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the center was a huge relief in saving patients and providing treatment. We used the building in sheltering OCVID-19 patients and not a single patient was returned without treatment.”

According to her, the center will be helpful not only in giving oncology treatment but in producing skilled manpower as well.

She pointed out that radiotherapy, chemotherapy and operation are the three pillars of oncology services. Therefore, there is a need to add the equipment to the center and said that Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) needs to pay attention to this issue.

She said that there is a requirement for 90 doctors, 110 nurses and 40 technical staff for the center to function effectively.

There are a total of 140 beds in the Center, where, 10 beds are in Intensive Care Units (ICU).

Bhawani Prasad Khapung, Minister of Health and Population said that the T.U. teaching hospital is the major hospital in the country which has been giving services to denizens nationwide for the last 40 years.

It is a multi-speciality hospital which is attended by people of all classes, castes and religions and adding an oncology center to the hospital will provide relief to Bharatpur and Bhaktapur Cancer Hospitals.

Minister Khapung alerted the hospital authorities about the discrepancies in the medical center and said that one small mistake can take a life, therefore, there is a need to be vigilant in such matters.

Likewise, Prof. Dr Dinesh Kafle, Director of the Teaching Hospital, said that the start of the Suresh Wagle Memorial Cancer Center will give relief to denizens.

He stressed the need for medical equipment for the center to function fully and hoped that there will be needed support from the health ministry.

Currently, there are a total of 1,000 beds, 515 doctors and 900 staff personnel employed under the T.U. Teaching Hospital.

(The number has been corrected against the one previously mentioned in this piece of news. We beg pardon for the confusion the number may have created: Coordinator)