The decision taken at a recent governing body meeting of the Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC), held in Thiruvananthapuram, to create additional posts for the in-patient block of the MCC and funds for a proposed nursing college at the centre are further milestones for the tertiary cancer centre which has traversed a great distance in catering to cancer patients of the Malabar region since its inception in 2001.
The decision to create 210 additional posts was taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister and attended by the Ministers of Health and Power, the officials of the departments concerned and directors of MCC and the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, among others. Besides fund allocation for a nursing college, the meeting also discussed other projects for the MCC. The cancer centre currently has 22 doctors and 29 academic staff and with the new recruitment, it would get an additional 18 doctors and 22 academic staff along with 86 nursing staff members. With this the in-patient bed strength of the centre will be increased to 220 from the current 110.
The autonomous cancer institute in north Kerala had recently acquired sophisticated equipment and machinery in cancer treatment.
Paediatric oncology unit
Work on a separate paediatric oncology department, infrastructural facilities for umbilical cord blood banking and stem cell transplantation were progressing at a quick pace, Satheeshan Balasubramanyam, director, MCC, told The Hindu .
NGOs’ role
As many as three voluntary organisations provided accommodation facilities for bystanders. One of the organisations also supplied free food as per the prescribed diet of each patient thrice a day at the MCC canteen, Dr. Subramanyam said.
Research tie-up
The centre had recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Kottakkal P.S. Vaidyarathnam Ayurveda College, aimed at studying the utility of Ayurveda medicines in palliative care and regaining the health of cancer patients.
Officials from both the streams of medicines were members of the core committee group and a Data Monitoring Safety Committee had also been formed to assess the progress and safety of the study as it proceeded, Dr. Subramanyam added.
