Thirvananthapuram: The Kerala Government on Friday announced that it will support Tamil Nadu in converting the Kanyakumari district hospital (KDH) into a cancer treatment centre. The collaboration came during the ongoing public health crisis and is expected to ease patients’ plight.
"This will benefit patients in Southern Tamil Nadu who are unable to travel to Thiruvananthapuram, especially due to the present hindrances," said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram started the cancer treatment facility at KDH for the benefit of patients in Kanyakumari and nearby districts who completely depend on RCC for cancer treatment. The Kerala Chief Minister stated, at least 560 patients in Kanyakumari depend on RCC for their treatment and travel regularly to Thiruvananthapuram, but now they are unable to cross the border due to ongoing lockdown.
" RCC has started the facility at the Kanyakumari district hospital, in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Health Department. However, anybody who wished to travel inter-state and enter Kerala, including medical emergency cases, can avail the facility with an emergency travel pass issued by the district collector, " Pinarayi added.
The announcement came days after JG Prince, MLA from Colachel in Kanyakumari district wrote a letter to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister alleging that Kerala was blocking a large number of patients from the district at the border, who depend on the state for their emergency medical treatment.
The MLA asked for the intervention of the TN government and said that the patients’ heart and kidney treatment, dialysis, diabetics for consulting their doctors and treatment in various hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram district were stopped at the border by the Kerala police.
The MLA further alleged it is hypocritical on Kerala's behalf as the state had gone to the Supreme Court against Karnataka which disallowed patients from Kasaragod to cross the border and avail essential medical treatment.
The RCC, a 39-year-old autonomous scientific institution sponsored jointly by Kerala and the union Governments, was one among six such centres in the country. Free chemotherapy is given to all children irrespective of family income while adults with curable cancers receive free treatment. Annually, 16,000 new patients visit the RCC from South India and even neighbouring countries. Over 500 patients attend the OPD daily for medical advice, care or for follow-up treatment.
Meanwhile, Kerala has also set up 22 cancer treatment centres in 14 districts of the district, to help patients who are unable to travel due to the 40-day lockdown, in association with the RCC.
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