Kerala has collaborated with Tamil Nadu to turn the Kanyakumari district hospital into a cancer treatment centre for the benefit of patients in Tamil Nadu who are stranded during the lockdown, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said during Friday’s press meet.
The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram started the cancer treatment facility, for the benefit of patients in Kanyakumari and surrounding districts who depend on RCC for their cancer treatment. According to Pinarayi, at least 560 patients in Kanyakumari depend on RCC for their testament and travel regularly to Thiruvananthapuram, but are not able to travel inter-state due to ongoing lockdown.
RCC has started the facility at the Kanyakumari district hospital, in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Health Department and with the support of the Tamil Nadu government, the chief minister added.
Earlier this week, a Tamil Nadu MLA from Kanyakumari’s Colachel constituency wrote to the Tamil Nadu chief minister stating that Kerala was blocking scores of patients from Kanyakumari who depended on the state for their emergency medical treatment. The MLA, in his letter asking for intervention, said that several patients who sought treatment at hospitals such as PRS, Anantapur and NIMS in Thiruvananthapuram were stopped at the border by the Kerala police and asked to return to their home districts. The patients included those seeking heart and kidney treatment, dialysis, diabetics etc who had to travel to Thiruvananthapuram for consulting their doctors.
Pinarayi however stated that anybody who wished to travel inter-state and enter Kerala, including medical emergency cases, needed an emergency travel pass issued by the district collector.
Apart from the Kanyakumari project, Kerala has also set up 22 cancer treatment centres in the state’s 14 districts in association with the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. The treatment facilities will help cancer patients continue their follow up treatment including chemotherapy at the nearest centre, avoiding travel during the lockdown period.
The chief minister’s press briefing was also attended by Health Minister KK Shailaja, Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan and Chief Secretary Tom Jose.
(This article was originally published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)