The Shirdi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Manipal has inaugurated the new Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Care Unit, which houses a department of palliative and supportive care.  It is also home to a new linear accelerator, which is used in radiotherapy. The new multi-energy linear accelerator is one of a kind in the region, Elekta Versa-HD, and can deliver advanced radiotherapy treatment techniques.

The Chairman of Manipal Health Enterprises Private Limited (MHEPL), Dr Sudarshan Ballal inaugurated the new cancer care setup and stated that the new centre would make advanced treatments more affordable and available to a larger section of the population who required the same, a report in TNIE stated.

A team of specialists has joined the centre to provide round-the-clock services to patients undergoing treatment at the hospital.

In August, Dr Naveen Salins had joined the hospital’s team of palliative care experts.

“In India, less than five per cent of the patients have access to palliative care and less than two per cent patients, with severe pain needing analgesics, have access to it. Not only physical suffering due to a disease but also fear of illness and impending death leads to distress, anxiety and depression. It requires specialised palliative medicine based interventions to help in managing these issues,” he stated to the media at the time.

Dr Naveen works with palliative medicine, which largely is still underdeveloped in the country. Palliative medicine largely deals with those who have serious illnesses and is centred around providing the individual with the best quality of life given their condition. It aims to not only physically help an individual cope with pain or side effects of treatment, but also to work at giving them a wholesome life.

The Shirdi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital is the second of its kind to be set up in the state and has been considered a pioneer in cancer research and treatment.