PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has extended its free cancer treatment programme to Abbottabad`s Ayub Teaching Hospital to benefit the people in Hazara Division.

Launched at Peshawar`s Hayatabad Medical Complex in 2013, the programme was initially meant for blood cancer, but it covered all types of cancersthreeyearslater.

The initiative, which was pioneered by Prof Abid Jameel, the then head of the oncology department, has so far benefited9,000 patients.

Prof Jameel, who is now the chairman of the board of governors at Abbottabad`s ATH, told Dawn that the government had already decided to extend the programme to the province`s all hospitals, which had oncologists, because it was difficult for cancer patients from all over the province to visit HMC for consultation, diagnosis and medicines.

`As there is a 34-bed oncology ward in ATH, we formally requested the health department to extend free treatment to it. The request was accepted, so now, free care and medication will be extended to more than 600 cancer patients from the Hazara region who have to visit the HMC for it,` he said.

The BoG chairman said the government had so far spent around Rs10bn on free treatment of cancer patients at the HMC.

He said blood cancer patientswere treated with 85pc cure rate, while the percentage was around 70pc for all cancers, which matched international standards.

Prof Jameel, who established the oncology department at the HMC, said a memorandum of understanding would be signed with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission-run Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy in Abbottabad for better patient management at ATH.

`We need to enlist support for cancer patients requiring radiation, nuclear medicines and investigations for which INOR has expressed readiness. The programme will take around six weeks for the launch. In future, all patients from HMC will be given all facilities in Abbottabad,` he said.

The BoG chairman said INOR and ATH would train staff members in the management of can-cer patients, who all would undergo treatment in Abbottabad.

`The programme is also meant to raise awareness of all types ofcancerssothatthe people consult the right doctors at the right time to avoid complications,` he said.

Prof Jameel said currently, mortality from cancer was high as most patient s visited hospitals only after their disease reached third stage in which the chances of treatment were very low.

He said as it was a government programme for all patients, the hospital couldn`t deny treatment to those, who were in the last stage of cancer, and began treatment to prolong their lifespan by one to two years.

`Awareness is required for the people to visit hospitals in the early cancer stages,` he said.

The BoG chairman said that cancer incidence could bebrought down through awareness campaigns.

He said in many cases, patients required lifelong treatment even if they survived.

`The ATH not only covers Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur districts from Hazara Division but also receives patients from Kohistan and Gilgit-Baltistan regions,` he said.

Prof Jameel said the patients had to visit Peshawar every month for follow-up treatment and medicines, which was difficult for espe cially those living in faraway areas.

He said the cancer treatment was costly and lasted long, so patients required regular medication.

`Twenty per cent of blood cancer patients treated at HMC are children, with each treatment costing between Rs500,000 and Rs1 million or even more,` he said.