Hyderabad: Of the 11,800 cases of cancer recorded in Telangana state, 51 per cent are in Hyderabad and of these, 80 per cent are from the Old City where the incidence of head and neck cancers is very high.
The data was collected by a non-government organisation, Helping Hand Foundation, from government and private hospitals. The data is being presented to political parties, to get them to pitch it in their manifestoes.
The Budget for minority welfare was Rs 2,000 crore in 2017-18, part of which goes for expensive cancer treatment. Mr Mujtaba Askari, chief health officer of Helping Hand Foundation, said: “We found that a major portion of Muslims in the Old City go to private hospitals for treatment. They enter a circle of debt with family members borrowing money to pay for the treatment. This shows that the minority budget must keep a portion for health to help these families.”
About 60 per cent of the new tuberculosis cases that were reported last year came from the Old City. Some 55 per cent of existing TB cases are of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, meaning they are resistant to most known drugs used to treat the disease.
Tuberculosis was found to be as high as 60 per cent in 2017 in the new cases in Old City. Of the 7,084 new cases in the state, 66 per cent were of TB. From the old cases of TB, 55 per cent are of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
The incidence of oral and head and neck cancer incidence has been recorded as high as 23 per cent in the Old City. This is because the use of gutka, pan masala and tobacco products is very high.
There have been issues raised about sanitation and hygiene, which is found to be the reason for increasing tuberculosis cases. Large family size, overcrowding in small places and improper sanitation have been cited as the reason for the spread of TB.
The minority budget, according to community members, is not utilised for the right purposes. Members of the community and NGOs are asking for a portion of the Budget to be allocated to healthcare.
Maualana Rashadi president of Safa Bait-ul-Maal said, “Poor health not only reduces productivity, resulting in loss of income but also burns deep holes in the pockets of the marginalised.”
There was also a demand for a pediatric hospital in the south of Hyderabad, shelter homes for sick and abandoned, health education at religious places, community centres and schools, nutritional kits for pregnant women and TB patients.
Other demands included social security and vocational training for young widows, improving hygiene and sanitation in Urdu medium schools and setting up of social clinics, where patients can get free advice and counselling.
