Mangalore: Dr. Heggade dedicates AJ Cancer Institute

Mangalore: Dr. Heggade dedicates AJ Cancer Institute

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Apr 24, 2013: AJ Cancer Institute, a full fledged healthcare centre dedicated to the treatment of cancer, was inaugurated today by Dr. D Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala. AJ Cancer Institute is a part of AJ Hospital and Research Centre complex situated at Kuntikana in the city.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Heggade said he was heartened to see that high end healthcare was becoming both accessible and affordable to the people.

 

“In olden days, people used to die at an early age and very often they would not know the cause of death. Today with modern diagnostic facilities we can detect disease early and treat it effectively. Due to better healthcare facilities, longevity of life has increased in the country. This also exposes us to ill health,” Dr Heggade said, “Today, even the poorest people and people from remote areas have awareness about basic health issues and prefer to go to a hospital than to look for superstitious solutions.”

Regarding the present medical education scenario, Dr. Heggade observed that earlier medical college was set up first and the teaching hospital would follow as a support unit. But these days the trend has changed and the medical college comes only after a fully fledged and functional hospital is there. “This is how it should be,” he said, “As the hospital will have experienced teacher-doctors and the students will get better exposure to various departments of medicine and treatments.”

Cancer is a very devastating disease, Dr. Veerendra Heggade observed and the cost of treatment is enough to destroy both the patient and his family. “I hope insurance companies will come up with good schemes which specifically address this issue,” he said.

On the occasion Dr. Heggade handed over the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) certificate to A J Shetty, Chairman, AJ Hopital and Research Centre.

AJ Cancer Institute has advanced facilities like high end Linear Accelerator machine with triple photon and six electron energies along with IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) and IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy), a High Dose Rate (HDR) Brachtherapy system, computerized treatment planning system for both teletherapy and brachtherapy, patient immobilization devices to deliver precise and accurate radiation therapy among others.

Dr. K S Sriprakash, Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Ajai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Corporation Bank, Prof. K Karthikeya Varma, Director – Academy, Research and Quality, Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences, Calicut, Dr. Prashanth Marla, Medical Director, AJ Hospital and Research Centre, were among the dignitaries present.