Provincial Minister for Law, Excise & Taxation, Finance Mujataba Shuja ur Rehman has said that government is implementing on a comprehensive plan for the provision of better healthcare facilities to the people of the province. For this purpose, all available resources are being utilized and cooperation of international donor agencies UNICEF/WHO is receiving in this regard. The government is providing maximum funds for prevention and treatment of cancer and other fatal diseases, to achieve the targets and all out cooperation and grants would be provided to the research oriented agencies, he added. He said that billions of rupees are being spent on social sector development programme and for the provision of modern and standardized educational and healthcare facilities.
Talking to various delegations of doctors and NGOs regarding World Cancer Day, Mujataba Shuja ur Rehman said that more research facilities would be provided to the young doctors of oncology and research registrars would be appointed where required. He said that radiotherapy machines had been set up in the teaching hospitals whereas for the treatment of breast cancer, mammography machines have also been provided to Jinnah and Allied hospitals. He said that it is high time for promoting social mobilization against smoking also as billions of rupees are being wasted on smoking annually which is major cause of spread of deadly diseases like TB, lungs cancer and even cardiovascular diseases as well as other chest diseases even chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases which 4th main cause of deaths in the world and 600 million people are victims of this disease in the world, whereas, according to WHO 3 million people die each year in the world due to these complications.
Mujataba Shuja ur Rehman said that in Pakistan, more than 40% of the adultery population over the age of 45 suffers from one form or the other of non-communicable disease, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer and the trend seems to be on the rise. He said that the majority of the patients present with advance disease requiring palliative care, radiotherapy is the most cost effective modality for 90 percent of these patients and Punjab has largest number of radiotherapy oncology treatment facilities in the country, follow up and multi-disciplinary combined clinics, teaching of oncology of under-graduate and postgraduate students, research clinical trials, fund raising for treatment of poor cancer patients were minutely observed and focused by the oncologists, he added. This increasing trend is likely to double the burden of disease in developing countries and clearly is likely to have significant health economic implications as a result of cost of care and lost productivity costs, he concluded.
