Cancer care network on cards

Cancer care network on cards

Cancer patients of Bihar may not have to go outside the state for treatment if the plan of Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (BMSICL) takes shape. The disease claims over 50,000 lives every year in the state, while over 80,000 new cancer cases come up, according to research done by the local Mahavir Cancer Sansthan.

BMSICL envisages creation of diagnostic and treatment infrastructure for cancer right from district hospital to medical college level in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

A pre-bid meeting took place in this regard on Tuesday, in which expression of interest (EOI) was discussed with 9 bidders, including Philips Healthcare (Gurgaon), Roentgen Oncologic Solution (Delhi), Imperial Health Private Limited (New Delhi), Wipro GE Healthcare (Kolkata) and Paras Hospital (Patna).

BMSICL MD Praveen Kishore said more pre-bid meets would take place and final tendering will be done in a month. After bidding, the service should roll out in a year or so.

The plan is to have a state-of-the-art oncology centre at Patna Medical College and Hospital. It will have a PET-CT machine, the first government hospital of the state to do so, apart from other equipment. PET-CT machine helps diagnose the stage of cancer in a patient, enabling the doctor concerned to tweak treatment. It also helps know if cancer can reoccur. A fully functional nuclear medicine department will also be created in PMCH.

At the next level, all other medical college and hospitals of the state would house regional oncology centres with advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities. They will have radiotherapy treatment facilities with all modern machines. The district-level hospitals will be able to do the diagnosis, and possibly offer first-stage treatment too. They will have facilities for cytological examination, biopsy, radiological and sonological examination, among others.

The private developer will create and maintain the infrastructure as also provide manpower for operating equipment. The government's role will be confined to providing space and building along with its basic infrastructure. Doctors for overall supervision will be the state government's.

Kishore said the state may be divided into clusters. Bid for the entire project may go to one developer or may be given cluster-wise.

All OPD patients will be treated free, while in-patients would be charged. That could also be waived off or subsidized as per the background of the patient. The charges would be fixed later, with the rates of central government health scheme (CGHS) being taken as a base. The bidder may be asked to offer a discount on these rates. The contract, initially, is proposed for three years, which may be extended to five years.