SRINAGAR: Despite the increasing number of cancer cases in the Kashmir Valley, there is a severe shortage of PET-CT scan machines for staging and assessing treatment responses.
With only one such machine available at SKIMS Soura, patients at GMC Srinagar face several challenges in accessing timely and accurate cancer diagnostics.
GMC Srinagar, where around 7,000 new cancer cases were registered, is functioning without a PET Scan machine that is used for the detection of cancer and the evaluation of cancer treatment.
Quoting oncologists, KNO reported that in the modern-day practice of oncology, PET-CT has emerged as a game-changer in the management of cancer, but the valley has just a single such machine.
Dr Shabnam, an oncologist, said there is just one PET Scan machine available at SKIMS Soura and there is a need for more such machines in the valley.
Dr Aijaz, another oncologist, said PET Scan constitutes a major advancement in the initial diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, prognosis, surveillance, and relapse throughout the course of the disease.
Doctors said there is an immediate need for such a facility at GMC Srinagar as cancer cases in Kashmir are on the rise and such patients have no options other than to visit SKIMS Soura.
They said patients have to wait for a long time to get their turn, which isn’t easy for such patients while some are visiting outside Kashmir for diagnosis and treatment.
The medical experts said the majority of the patients cannot afford to visit private clinics or outside the valley, thereby delaying their diagnosis and treatment, which is very essential for the treatment of cancer.
“PET-CT is helping doctors to work out the best treatment and helps to detect primary sites, thereby influencing the choice of chemotherapy,” they said, adding, “It would be in the interest of the community as well as for better healthcare facilities if the PET Scan facility will be made available at SMHS hospital.”
According to the Union Health Ministry data, 51,577 cases of cancer were reported in JK in the last four years (2019-2022) with 12,396 in 2019, 12,726 cases in 2020, 13,060 cases in 2021, and 13,395 cases in 2022.
A total of 35,623 people in JK died with cancer between the years 2018 and 2022, that is 6,824 cancer patients were reported to have died in 2018; in 2019, 7,003 deaths were reported; in 2020, 7,189 deaths were reported; in 2021, 7,211 deaths were reported; and in 2022, 7,396 cancer patient fatalities were reported.
