Cancer patients: no institute or authority maintaining record!!!

There is no institute or authority at national level in Pakistan to maintain the record of cancer patients while due to non-availability of funds for medicines with the public sector hospitals, cancer patients have to purchase expensive drugs from the chemists/druggists.
Information gathered from different sources including public and private sector health institutions revealed that the government seriousness towards health sector can be judged from the fact that despite rapid increase in number of cancer patients, the health ministry has not been able to establish any institute like 'National Cancer Control Cell'. What to talk of an institution, it has not even put in place 'national cancer registration system' to ascertain the actual number of cancer patients.
Sources said that just like other countries of the world, the government of Pakistan celebrates the World Cancer Day on February 4 every year, but has not taken a single effective measure to control the disease or to facilitate the poor cancer patients by providing them expensive medicine, if not free at even at subsidised rates.
When this scribe contracted a senior Health official, he informed on the condition of anonymity, "The government lacks financial resources. That is why; it has become very difficult for it to provide desired treatment to the cancer patients including medicine at cheap rates. The government is aware of the fact that the most of the cancer patients can not afford the expensive treatment, but it is handicapped in this regard due to the lack of adequate financial resources."
Every year thousands of poor cancer patients die in Pakistan, as health sector has never been the priority of the government, but the sad side of the story is that the elite class has the facility to get the most expensive treatment abroad. Alas! It is the poor who has to bear the burnt of every government policy.
Cancer is increasing in the world with great speed. Cancer develops in the body's cells, which constantly divide and multiply to replace the old cells. Sometimes an abnormal cell begins to multiply eventually forming a cancerous tumour. Most cancerous tumours grow quite rapidly and attack nearby organs and tissues. Changes in bowel or bladder habits- a sore that does not heal, unusual bleeding or discharge, thickening or lump in the breast or any other part of the body, indigestion or difficulty in swallowing are among the main symptoms of cancer.
The prevalence of breast cancer is highest in Pakistan as compared to the other forms of cancers like the prostate cancer, cervical cancer, mouth and cancer in children. According to an estimate, at least 90,000 women suffer from breast cancer in Pakistan every year while the main cause of breast cancer is still unknown but different factors that can activate the disease include: sex, age, childbearing, hormonal distribution, a high-fat diet, alcohol intake, obesity, and environmental factors such as tobacco use and radiation.
The second most common cancer among women is the cervical cancer. It is a disease that can strike women of any age, ethnic background, or social and economic segment of the society. Approximately 80 per cent of deaths related to cervical cancer occur in developing countries such as Pakistan. Almost 500,000 women every year become victim of the cervical cancer in the world.
The mouth cancer is also spreading rapidly in Pakistan due to the frequent use of paan (betel leaf), sweetened betel nuts, or chaalia. According to an estimate, in Pakistan 7.3 percent of the total population use pan, 6.7 percent chaalia, 7.5 percent gutka, 14.6 percent naswar, while the use of betel and chewing tobacco is 20 percent and 17 percent respectively.
Cancer in children is alarming in Pakistan as according to an estimate, 7,000 new cases of childhood cancer are being reported annually in the country. It was estimated that about 50 percent per cent of these children die before reaching any hospital.
Giving some statistics, Dr Syed Ahmer Hamid said though it was difficult to tell the exact number of childhood cancer cases as there was no national cancer registry. However, "Our annual new cases have increased from 137 from 1999 to 445 in 2010. The outpatient visits have increased from 3,714 to 13,129 last year. The expenses, which are solely met through donations, currently stood at Rs 80 million," he said, adding that most patients can not afford and are forced to depend on public sector hospitals providing free treatment.
Fortunately, prostrate cancer in Pakistan is rare in men who are aged below 50, but with growing years, the disease become common. The incidence of prostate cancer is low in Pakistan, encompassing 3.8% of our male population. The most likely explanation for this is low life expectancy and no screening for prostate cancer in Pakistan.