Emergency care centres will soon be set up to deal with accidents on the highways in the state, the Goa government told the assembly here on Thursday. The health department was in the process of setting up emergency care centres and deploy ambulances on highways, minister Vishwajit Rane said in a written reply in the House.
Health minister Vishwajit Rane that said the combination drug comprising Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab, which costs Rs 2 lakh, will be administered free of cost to those with HER2 (a subtype of breast cancer) breast cancer cases at Goa Medical College (GMC), Bambolim, from February 4.
He added that victims of road accidents suffer due to the lack of facilities at the hospital, and by the time they are referred from this hospital to GMC, don’t survive. “This should not happen, especially in a progressive state like Goa,” Sardesai said while speaking at a formal function at the district hospital to inaugurate the Jan Aushadhi Kendra, a pharmacy for sale of generic medicines.
Rane’s comments appeared to be directed at the AAP, particularly at the two AAP MLAs in Goa who have repeatedly highlighted Delhi’s mohalla clinic model while criticising Goa’s rural healthcare system. AAP has spoken about replicating the mohalla clinic model in Goa, something that Rane said he is clearly averse to doing.
The state government has started the construction of a hospital, which will be ready in 16 to 18 months, he said. This agreement will help people access cancer treatment, preventive care, and touch upon every aspect of cancer just like Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.
He said that some private hospitals treat patients until they become critically ill and then when they are in the last stage, refer them to the GMC. This, he said, puts pressure on the GMC staff and is wrong on the part of private hospitals.
It was inaugurated by health minister Vishwajit Rane who also launched the FDA’s second mobile food testing van at the event.
The minister said that people in rural Sattari should avail of the health benefits to the fullest. He said, lifestyle diseases are a major concern for many people, and we are working tirelessly to ensure that the right mechanisms are in place to effectively treat patients.
While the premier state hospital plans to have these OPDs daily, it will start with having them on alternate days. “Our target date to start the OPDs is April 15. We are in the process of completing the linked tasks to start the new OPDs,” Rane said. “We do not want any cancer patient to go outside the state for treatment,” a senior doctor said. In 2022, from January to May, 485 cases were registered, of which 108 were breast cancer and 97 lung. Even in 2020, the year of the pandemic, GMC recorded 949 cancer cases. On average, Goa sees about 1,600-1,700 cancer cases a year.
"With rising cancer cases in the state of Goa, we are working unabatedly to build a 'State Cancer Institute' so that citizens of Goa do not have to travel outside the state to seek treatment," health minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted after the meeting.
The health department's circular will be implemented and monitored by the director of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Goa. The move will ensure that high quality generic medicines are available to every section of the society, and pharmacies across the state will have to abide by this, Rane said in another tweet.
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