R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, JAN 29
As part of the efforts to provide affordable cancer treatments to the poor, the Tamil Nadu government would install the Linear Accelerator Machines (LAMs) at 8 more Government Hospitals across the state, the State Health and Family Welfare Minister C. Vijayabaskar said here on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami inaugurated two LAMs – one at Omandur Government General Hospital and another at the Government Royapettah Hospital.
Addressing on this occasion, Dr. Vijayabaskar said that a specialised cancer treatment that can cost up to Rs. 6.5 lakh in private hospitals will be available free for the poor for those who are covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS). If the people are opting for paid wards in government hospitals, the treatment will cost no more than Rs. 2 lakh, the minister said.
He said that the state has invested nearly Rs. 20 lakh for each of these machines. Linear accelerator or Linac machines use X-rays (photons) to treat cancerous tumours. Last year, the first Linac machine was inaugurated in Madurai. These machines can perform stereotactic radio surgery in a single session or over three to five sessions for larger tumours, oncologists said. Precisely focused radiation beams will treat tumours in brain, neck, lungs, liver, spine and other parts of the body, without harming normal cells.
Out of the 8 LAMs, installations of seven such machines have been completed, the state is awaiting mandatory approval from AERB, he said. The eighth centre is in Salem, the Minister added.
In February, a third such machine for Chennai will be opened to public at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, along with PET CT scan and a new tower block. After this, the hospital will have all five facilities under one roof. The CT/MRI machines in the hospital will be used for diagnosis, PET CT for finding different stages of cancer, CT simulators for planning and Linac for treatment, said Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation Managing Director Dr. P. Umanath.
The corporation will operate all Linac machines just like how it runs MRI/ CT machines.“Our aim is to make optimal utilisation and not limit the machines to duty timings of radiologists and oncologists,” he said. The machines will be periodically serviced and maintained by the corporation.
