'6000 child cancer patients detected a year in country’
Bss, Dhaka
Adviser for Health and Family Welfare Maj Gen (Retd) MA Matin yesterday said paediatric hematology and oncology department would be introduced in all medical colleges to provide specialised services to children suffering from cancer.He said such facilities should be introduced even at the upazila health complexes for ensuring easily available treatment to childhood cancer at the grassroots level. Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of a two-day workshop on 'Child Cancer' at BIAM auditorium in the city, he said 70 percent of childhood cancer is curable. Prof MA Mannan, a noted paediatricians and oncologist, said up to 6,000 child cancer patients are being detected every year in the country. "But it is surprising that there is only Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) has the Paediatric Hematology and Oncology Department with a 22-bed facility. So it has become very difficult to cope with such huge number of childhood cancer patients, he added. Prof Mannan urged the government to introduce such units in all medical colleges in the country. BSMMU Vice-chancellor Md Tahir, Prof Purna Kurkure of TATA Memorial Hospital of India, Prof Md Saiful Islam, head of oncology of Sanofi Aventis, Coordinator of My Child Matters Dr Davir Uddin Ahmed and Md Iftekharul Islam also spoke on the occasion.
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