Gem Hospital and Research Centre, Coimbatore, in association with all the 34 Rotary Clubs of the city, has launched “Care for Life,” to provide laparoscopic cancer surgery for the poor, free of cost. The programme was formally launched last Saturday.

According to the hospital chairman, Dr. C. Palanivelu, the flagship programme will provide free surgeries of the esophagus, bowel, liver, pancreas, kidney, uterus, and the ovaries. While hospital will waive the entire hospital charges, the cost of the consumables and medicine will be shared by Rotary clubs and the GEM Medical Foundation, he said.

A dedicated committee comprising the Rotary members and GEM doctors will scrutinize, on a weekly basis (every Saturday 2 PM to 4 PM), the need for surgery in cancer patients and select the patients to be treated free of cost. Patients from Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka will be evaluated under the scheme.

President Elect of the Association of Minimal Access Surgeons of India (AMASI), Dr. Tamonas Chaudhuri said that the association also has plans to conduct more such minimally-invasive cancer programmes throughout the country under the leadership of its founder-president, Dr. Palanivelu. He also donated Rs.5 lakhs towards the “Care for life” project, on behalf of the association.

Expressing concern over the alarming increase in cases of Gastro Intestinal (GI) cancers world wide, Palanivelu said 62 percent of such cancers occurred in Asia. GI caner is one of the most common cancers among Indian male (colon and rectum 10 percent, stomach 8.5 percent, liver 7.5 percent, esophagus 4.3 percent, and pancreas 4.5 percent), he said.

Lung and prostate cancers are most common among men in the western countries, but are rare in India.

Among women, the most prevalent is breast cancer followed by GI cancer (colon and rectum 9.2 percent, stomach 4.8 percent, liver 3.8 percent, and pancreas 3.8 percent). Cancers of the uterus and ovaries are also very common in India, he said.