Karnataka: KIMS first in state to get Chemotherapy Infusion Centre
Hubballi: An initiative that will cure the entire North Karnataka's cancer patients round the clock under one roof has been recently launched by the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubballi. It has inaugurated a Chemotherapy Infusion Centre (CIC) which is considered the first facility to open in a government hospital in the state.
The 10-bed CIC will provide comprehensive chemotherapy treatment to cancer patients at a low cost. The facility will not only restrict its services to a few districts but it will provide treatment services to the entire North Karnataka. Patients from any district of Karnataka will be welcomed at the centre.
In order to relieve the burden on the government hospitals in Kidwai, the government has planned to set up CIC in 12 hospitals across the state which KIMS being the first to get the centre. A daily average of 15 to 20 cancer patients would be treated at the CIC.
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The facility includes an intensive care unit, trained nurses, and oncologists who specialise in chemotherapy, as well as a biosafety cabinet which will be used when patients suffer from side effects after chemotherapy. Patients won't have to worry about the cost of the treatments as the hospital would offer a 30% rebate on the treatment to patients possessing the above poverty line (APL) cards.
KIMS director Dr Ramalingappa Antartani told TOI "Most of the patients coming to our hospital are from underprivileged families. As long as they possess a below poverty line (BPL) Antyodaya card, they can avail of chemotherapy treatment for free at the centre. On Thursday, this facility was officially inaugurated in Hubballi and in Mysuru. The chief minister was slated to inaugurate the facilities in both places, albeit virtually, but owing to technical glitches, he was unable to do it. The centre will be formally inaugurated on Friday."
Dr Antartani said, "Cancer patients received chemotherapy treatment in the departments that dealt with the specific part of the human anatomy that was affected – gynaecology, pathology, pulmonology, et al. Now, the patients suffering from either lung cancer, intestinal cancer or any other form of the disease, will receive chemotherapy treatment at the CIC."
Earlier KIMS also upgraded its linear accelerator into a high-tech Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) machine to provide better treatments to cancer patients at a cost of Rs 3 crore.
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The cost of treatment using such machines in the private sector could come up to Rs 1.5-2 lakh per package, but in KIMS, Hubballi, the treatment is free with accommodation and food for poor patients under government schemes.
