Cancer treatment amidst spike in Covid cases; Here is how Cachar Cancer Hospital managing both

The Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (CCHRC) has been the flag bearer of the campaign against Cancer in the Barak Valley for the past almost 3 decades. It was established with the sole objective to combat the growing occurrence of cancer and not letting the socio-economic condition of patients get in the way of medical aid. The only comprehensive cancer care centre with facilities for prevention, treatment, education and research on cancer, the Cachar Cancer Hospital sees over 3,000 new and 14,000 follow-up patients annually. But due to the advent of Coronavirus, the CCHRC too, just like most other healthcare centres, had to accommodate Covid patients to fight this battle against this deadly pandemic.

Initially, after the Covid hit in this region, the Cachar Cancer Hospital were treating Covid positive patients who were already undergoing treatment for Cancer in their hospital. Then when Covid positive cases started to rise and most other hospitals started to fill up, the CCHRC had to open a separate makeshift Covid ward of 20 beds in the beginning. Then after a while, their nurses and other staff members too started contracting the virus thereby making this battle against the deadly Coronavirus tougher than ever before.

Debabrata Dutta, Administrative Officer of the Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre (CCHRC), said, “Not only this year, but last year too we had to open a separate Covid ward initially consisting of 20 beds. But gradually had to expand as more Covid cases started cropping up and also many of our staff too started contracting the virus. This year, as of now, we have 40 beds dedicated to the Covid ward which is almost full. It consists of both Cancer patients who are also undergoing Covid treatment and the staff members who had tested Covid positive while on the duty. A few non-cancer patients too have been admitted to our Covid ward as they didn’t get any bed in other hospitals. So currently we’re in a tight spot right now, but mentally we’re also prepared to face whatever may come if the situation further worsens.”

But Debabrata Dutta also said that they could potentially extend their Covid ward capacity to 70 beds at best if the situation further escalates, behind which they’re helpless. “Although we’re fighting tooth & nail to beat this virus and most patients are also recovering quickly, it should also be noted that if most of our staff or doctors end contracting the virus, then it would become impossible to keep Covid treatment going on here. Already many of our staff are still recovering from the Coronavirus, so the workload on the rest of us is more now than ever. Then there are Cancer patients who also need to have their regular treatment like Chemotherapy and all, for which they too need medical attention from time to time. Keeping the fragile immune system of the cancer patients in mind, we have already shifted their Chemotherapy ward to another place, so that the risk of them contracting the virus gets minimized. But if more Covid patients start coming in, then it would become near impossible for us to manage both cancer and Covid treatment with the limited resources that we have”, said the Administrative Officer of the Cachar Cancer Hospital.

Regarding the medical facilities required to treat the patients, Dutta said that when it comes to an oxygen supply, they’re doing just about fine as of now. Further explaining, he said, “We have our own oxygen plant so as of now, oxygen is not an issue. Many social activists and organizations have come forward in the past to donate necessary medical equipment to this hospital. The legacy of this Cachar Cancer Hospital is that it was built from the contribution of the community from various corners of society. That’s why it was built by the community, and for the community as well. Now if a Cancer patient undergoing free treatment here through various government schemes like the PMJAY, gets Covid positive, we cannot charge them suddenly for Covid treatment, that would be unfair to the patient. So we provide free Covid treatment to our Cancer patients too, and for that, we’re grateful to the district administration for helping us with whatever we need.”

But as many staff members of the hospital also testing Covid positive, they’re having a tough time being understaffed. “This charitable hospital was built from the donation of various individuals and organisations who strived to make this institution a premier one in the field of Cancer. Now in the current Covid war, we again request people to help us in any way they can by providing us with things like PPE kits, sanitiser, gloves, etc. We have been also buying such equipment by ourselves from the local market, as these things are consumable and hence gets exhausted every now & then. So far, the district administration has been quite responsive and helped us whenever we reached out to them. Every alternative day we go to the Civil Hospital to collect RAT kits for our everyday testing. So if common people and organisations come up to provide such medical equipment, it would be of huge help to us in this battle against the virus.”