More awareness on cancers needed in Tamil Nadu: Finance Minister

Minister for Finance and Human Resources Thangam Thennarasu on Wednesday stressed the need to create more awareness on cancers among the public, especially among women in rural Tamil Nadu.

Minister for Finance and Human Resources Thangam Thennarasu on Wednesday stressed the need to create more awareness about cancers among the public, especially among women in rural Tamil Nadu.

Shortly after inaugurating an advanced CyberKnife robotic radio surgery system at Apollo Cancer Centre, he said that there needs to be large-scale awareness on cancers in the State. Women, particularly in villages in many parts of T.N., still did not know the risks for cancers, he said.

The first and foremost duty of the medical fraternity, the Minister said, was to create awareness among the public, especially among rural women, to know more about common cancers. For instance, they should be made aware that cancers of the breast and cervix were commonly-occurring cancers. He called for support from hospitals such as Apollo Hospitals to create awareness on cancers as early detection was crucial.

“Tamil Nadu is becoming a hub for advanced healthcare systems, and Chennai is playing a vital role in this,” he said. The State, he said, has a very robust healthcare system when compared to other States and is always positioned as number one in the country.

Mr. Thennarasu also raised the need for health services to be made available to the common public. “Technology, ultimately, has to be necessarily affordable for the common public, and there is a need to find the means to mitigate the expenses,” he said, adding that it was important to make technology available to each and every common man.

Preetha Reddy, executive vice chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, said the new CyberKnife robotic radio surgery system was about precision, technology and good outcomes. “When we think about training, we always look to the West – U.S. or Europe. Now, the time is beginning as people are coming to us for training and research,” she said.

Harshad Reddy, director, operations, group oncology and international, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, said the new system would help improve surgical outcomes and reduce complications.