Mobile cancer-test unit lies defunct

Shillong, Aug. 20 : A mobile cancer detection unit worth Rs 1 crore is gathering dust at Shillong civil hospital because of a technical snag in the mammography machine. The unit, run by the UK-based Roko Cancer Charitable Trust with support from Meghalaya health department, was launched in April last year after the state government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Trust to run the unit on a public private partnership mode. The mobile unit, comprising a big bus and cancer testing equipment, was originally designed to test breast cancer but also carries out cervical and oral cancer tests in the four districts of East Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills, Jaintia Hills and Ri Bhoi. However, the mammography machine stopped functioning in April this year. After Delhi-based engineers repaired it, the machine worked for three months but again became non-functional in July. The director of operations, Roko Trust, Meghalaya, Sadananda Das, today said the machine had developed a technical snag and engineers had visited Shillong thrice since July. He hoped that the machine would become operational within a week. He said there were defects in the cards of the mammography machine and since these were available only in Germany, rectification of the problem was taking time. He also said the big bus being used for the mobile unit was not suitable for Meghalaya’s hilly terrain and they had asked the trust for a smaller one. The state government is planning to launch another mobile unit in Garo hills within six months. “Though a big bus was sanctioned for Garo hills, it was used in Punjab after a survey found that small buses were suitable for the Garo hills terrain,” he added. The mobile unit has tested 1,233 women for breast cancer in the four districts it is operational in the past year. Of these, 529 cases were further analysed but no one tested positive. A few cases will be further tested, Das said. Of the 3,279 persons screened for cervical cancer, 2,096 cases were further analysed and two tested positive. Of the 6,665 persons screened for oral cancer, 106 persons were advised to undergo biopsy. Of these, 16 persons have been sent to the Meghalaya Cancer Society for treatment. The Trust, which has a 15-member team, including doctors and nurses, based in Shillong, is a registered charity organisation that operates in India and abroad. It works for the poor and endeavours to create awareness among women on breast cancer in the semi-urban and rural areas of India. It provides free mammography and ultrasound facilities to women in detection camps through its mobile unit. Prior to the tests, patients are educated on breast, cervical and oral cancer through lectures and awareness talks. The Trust operates in eight states of the country — Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa — other than Meghalaya.