8/10/2019 Cancer Picture Dismal, Not Complete

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Cancer picture dismal, not complete

If the CWG inauguration was magnificent, its closing ceremony was memorably spectacular. However, certain

happenings should be a lesson in objectivity for our media. The pre-inauguration drama on preparedness for the

CWG had ranged from downright ridiculous to relentlessly uglywith all sorts of charges, counter-charges,

innuendoes and rumours thickening up the atmosphere. How could Punjabi TV have remained unaffected by this

national hysteria?

So, just one day before the inauguration, Khabarsaar joined the breast-beating orgy with the anchor SP Singh

wailing about the smudging of Indias fair name. The invited panellists wantonly joined the chorus of dirges.

Nobody paused to think that truth could be significantly different. As it eventually turned out, there was no real

danger of the Games getting scrapped. What magic wand, except hard work, could have made this turnaround

from sure-shot disaster to resounding success? Clearly, Khabarsaar missed the big picture.

In a different context, the Day & Night channels well- documented report Cancer da Keher managed to capture

the big picture. Swaran Singh Danewalia met the affected families in the Malwa region where people had to sell

even their land and belongings to rescue their children and other kin from cancers clutches. Conversely, there

were people who had abandoned their afflicted relations; and sick women were pushed out of their in-laws

homes for becoming a financial burden.

Society has remained insensitive to their plight so far. Socially ostracised, these people are living in literal hell.

The report highlighted the lack of reliable data vis-`E0-vis the causes and spread of cancer. Worse, there are no

adequate and affordable medical facilities in Punjab for treating cancer patients, who have to go to Bikaner where

state-of-the-art amenities are available at affordable costs.

However, the less said about the railway services the better. Poor availability of food and water and no provision

of stretchers and wheelchairs add to the afflicted travellers miseries. The train to Bikanernicknamed "cancer

train"is packed with passengers, resulting in poor sanitary conditions and uncomfortable journey. However, the

doctors helpful attitude and availability of cheap boarding and lodging in Bikaner are big mi tigating factors.

Poor medical facilities and high costs as well as governmental apathy in Punjab stood out in stark contrast.

Although private cancer hospitals are coming up in Punjab, the state government has no plans as yet for setting

up fully equipped government hospitals that would make the treatment readily available to the poor.

As a follow-up, D&N held a debate on the issue on October 5. Kanwar Sandhu set the tone by pointing out that

during the last five years the number of cancer victims in Punjabs Malwa region had increased threefold. Dr.

Manjit Kaur from the NGO, Cancer Roko, informed that in Bathinda district, out of 14,000 persons examined,

"suspected cases" numbered about 200. The Faridkot MP, Paramjit Kaur Gulshan (SAD), asserted that there

were not many cancer patients in her constituency. However, the Congress MLA from Kotkapura, Ripjit Singh,

8/10/2019 Cancer Picture Dismal, Not Complete

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declared that the ailment had acquired epidemic proportions in the Malwa belt. Sandhu cited reports of more

than 10,000cancer-related deaths in Punjab, while Dr. Rakesh Gupta from the State Health Department,

informed that during 2001-09, there were 7,700 cancer cases, including deaths.

Still, nobody could explain why the disease is rampant in the Malwa region. Strikingly, although each of the

specialists knew what was happening in his/her area of specialty, the sum total of their knowledge could not givea clear and complete picture regarding the actual situation in Punjab. Ripjit and Dr. Manjit averred that annual

medical reimbursements to the Badal family alone amounted to Rs 5 crore. Contrast this with the common

Punjabis selling their all to fight the scourge.

That completes the big, dismal picture; no?