Sushil Koirala Cancer Hospital begins treatment of blood cancer

By Siraj Khan,Nepalgunj, July 30: Sushil Koirala Prakhar Cancer Hospital (SKPCH), the only cancer hospital in western Nepal, has started treatment for different types of blood cancer.

Situated in Khajura of Banke, the SKPCH has started the treatment by bringing a "Haematology Ward" into operation. "Dr. Sajan Thapa, Dr. Christine Shrestha and Dr. Khom Chaudhary are involved in the treatment of blood cancer," said Dr. Niraj Bhattarai, medical superintendent of the SKPCH.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bhattarai stressed a lack of enough manpower and resources in the hospital to provide more services.

"As a cancer hospital, we have an aim to provide more services to the patients. However, there is a shortage of manpower and equipment. Nevertheless, we are trying to expand the services with the available resources," he added.

The SKPCH was able to start treatment of blood cancer after receiving medical equipment of apheresis technology from the Bheri Hospital after coordinating with the Department of Health Services. Medical experts refer to apheresis as a technology that separates several components of blood using a machine. The machine was gathering dust in the Bheri Hospital, officials informed.

"Blood cancer treatment is very sensitive. We plan to call oncologist Dr. Jaya Shrestha from Chitwan to inspect our activities and seek further feedback," said Dr. Sajan Thapa, a member of the hematology ward.

There are two blood cancer patients admitted to the SKPCH after the treatment was started. The hospital also informed that it had a plan to operate a blood bank on the hospital premises in the near future.

"Advanced ICU is available in the SKPCH. A medical linear accelerator (LINAC) device, which is commonly used for external beam radiation treatments for patients with cancer, is also being installed. The hospital is trying to make cancer treatment available in western Nepal so that there will be no need of visiting India," said Dr. Bhattarai.