State to sign MoU with Tata hosp, Centre for cancer institute: Rane

Times of India | 1 month ago | 11-08-2022 | 01:44 am

Panaji: Health minister Vishwajit Rane said on Wednesday that the state government would sign a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and the Union government, to seek their guidance in setting up the proposed Cancer Institute of Goa.The Tata Memorial Hospital is one of the world's largest cancer care facilities, and is supported by the Union government's department of atomic energy. Rane’s announcement came after a meeting with Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan and state health secretary Y V V J Rajasekhar to discuss various issues pertaining to the health services in Goa.Rane said that Bhushan promised to support the upgrade of the tertiary cancer centre to a state cancer institute. “He has advised us to send a proposal, along with referrals,” said Rane.The foundation stone for the cancer centre was laid on August 1. The project itself was initiated a few years ago, and the state is being assisted financially by the Union government.Rane said that Bhushan appreciated the Goa government’s policy of approving HPV vaccination for girls of the 9-14 age group for the prevention of cervical cancer.Goa Medical College (GMC) has a unit for cancer patients and also a day centre for chemotherapy, led by Dr Anupama Borkar.Before that, most cancer patients needing treatment were referred to certain private hospitals or centres outside Goa.Rane said that at Wednesday’s meeting, they also discussed the digitisation of health records. “It will ensure that the records of all patients, but chiefly of far-flung primary health centres, are properly documented,” Rane said.Digital documentation, he said, will ensure that records are maintained in one place, which will help in the preventive care as well as treatment of patients.Rane said that the Union health ministry would soon send a team of officials to understand Goa’s special needs, including the upgradation of the South Goa district hospital, with a separate medical college as per the model advised by Niti Aayog.“The ministry will also depute officers from AIIMS for the upgradation of the STEMI programme in Goa,” Rane added.

Read more

Share:

Similar News

Soon, app to bring Goa tourism at the fingertips

Times of India | 3 hours ago | 27-09-2022 | 04:40 am

Times of India

3 hours ago | 27-09-2022 | 04:40 am

Panaji: While the tourism department’s website does have essential basic information for tourists, like places to visit and activities, the department is keenly aware that these details are insufficient for the present-day traveller, especially when everything is technology driven.An app that can guide a traveller across destinations in North and South Goa will be launched by November-December, tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said.“We have already started using technology to give tourists a better experience and we are in the process of introducing an app,” he said.The app will aid a traveller to access all information required to make his stay better and enjoyable. “A tourist will be able to download the app from the playstore. A wallet facility will be offered with a QR code, which he can use at various locations,” he said.GIS mapping of locations, he said, has started. The attempt is to see that every part or area is integrated into the facility.“Suppose a tourist is visiting Dudhsagar. All locations in that circuit will be geo-tagged. The tourist can make informed choices as he starts on a journey and sees more than one place in the circuit,” Khaunte said.A Dudhsagar-bound tourist can also visit the Tamdi Surla temple. Depending on the circuit chosen by the tourist, he will be able to see tourist spots in that area.Besidea, a call centre will promptly address any grievances or queries he or she may have.Travellers exploring Goa’s interiors have mostly gained their knowledge about locations other than coastal areas though social media, reels and YouTube videos. The number of tourists visiting waterfalls and other water bodies in the interiors have gone up and some even turn to adventures in their pursuits in total disregard to the dangers of venturing into inaccessible and remote areas.

In progressive Goa, almost no takers for vasectomies, just two last year

Times of India | 23 hours ago | 26-09-2022 | 08:49 am

Times of India

23 hours ago | 26-09-2022 | 08:49 am

PANAJI: On health parameters, Goa is counted among the progressive states, yet, when it comes to family planning measures, the responsibility lies with women as in other states. The state family welfare bureau of the directorate of health services recorded just two vasectomies, one each for North and South Goa, last year. Dr Rajendra Borkar, who heads the bureau, said that though there are routine awareness programmes, the male response for family welfare measures is poor. The state’s fertility rate being 1.3 — a sufficiently good count — family planning does not pose a problem. With Goa being literate and progressive, it was expected that men would shoulder the responsibility of family planning, but Borkar said that people can’t be dictated to choose a certain method of contraception. “Anyway, we have a low birth rate. We can’t be telling people to do this and that,” he said. Health experts said that in general men associate vasectomy with impotence and are reluctant to opt for the procedure, and women are left with no choice but to take measures. “Men believe they will turn impotent if they have a vasectomy, but this is not true. Overall we see more tubectomies,” said Dr Rini Naik, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist. Several women also choose to have a permanent sterilisation done immediately after delivery. “Women know the amount of pain they will have to bear while giving birth, and the effort and time they will need to put in to raise a child. So, naturally, they take the initiative where husbands fail,” Naik said. Naik said she has seen cases of husbands not opting for a vasectomy even where their wives had a health condition and ideally should not have been the one to have a procedure done. Another gynaecologist said that since doctors know the trend and find it difficult to convince unwilling husbands, women are counselled to adopt a family planning procedure. Dr Shradha Patil, a gynaecologist who practices in South Goa, said that generally vasectomies are not given much importance in Goa. “We were taught more about tubal ligation. Somehow vasectomies are on the back burner and we don’t know why,” Patil said. Women, she said, are also likely to rely on oral contraception if the husband works abroad and may be home two to three months a year. “Several of my clients have their husbands working abroad and they prefer oral contraction. For a short-term, oral contraceptive is a fantastic method,” she said. Also, the Goan population being well educated, she said, couples choose a natural method of contraception. The abortion rate is also not high is Goa.

10,000 sanads for forest land in 18 months: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

Times of India | 2 days ago | 25-09-2022 | 07:50 am

Times of India

2 days ago | 25-09-2022 | 07:50 am

MARGAO: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday handed over land title documents (sanads) for forest land under occupation to several beneficiaries under the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Addressing the gathering at a function held at the south Goa collectorate, Sawant said that the government has set a target of handing over 10,000 sanads to claimants of both individual and community rights category, within the next 12 to 18 months. Sawant said that his government was working on the Antyodaya principle, and said that being able to hand over titles to rightful claimants of forest land under the Act was his biggest achievement since becoming the chief minister. “There were nearly 10,000 applications pending under the Act whenI became the chief minister in 2019. No sanad was given to any claimant before that. So far 2,000 to 2,500 sanads have been handed over to beneficiaries. The rest will be cleared in due course,” he said. He urged beneficiaries not to sell the agricultural land they have now come to own, but cultivate it with the assistance of the agriculture department. Sawant also inaugurated the FRC Sanad Information System portal that will facilitate beneficiaries under the Act to obtain their land title documents online. “This is yet another step in our mission towards making Goa swayampurna (self-reliant),” Sawant said. Despite a large number of claims, sources said lack of documentation by claimants, the requirement of 50% quorum at gram sabhas have turned out to be major impediments in speedy processing of claims.

Locals complain about structure in vicinity of airport

Times of India | 3 days ago | 24-09-2022 | 07:40 am

Times of India

3 days ago | 24-09-2022 | 07:40 am

Panaji: Residents of Dabolim have filed a complaint with the South Goa collector and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) alleging that unauthorised structures have been erected along the highway close to the Goa International Airport. The alleged illegal structures have been erected on land that belongs to the Sancoale comunidade but authorities are turning a blind eye to the developments, they said. The locals have written to the Momugao Planning and Development Authority (MPDA), South Goa collector, Indian Navy, Mormugao deputy collector and the administrator for comunidades seeking their intervention. “Some construction work is being undertaken at the Dabolim junction, which belongs to the Sancoale comunidade. Enquiries reveal that this construction work has no permission from any local body including the panchayat or the MPDA,” Satish Kamtikar, a local, said. He said the unauthorised structure is in defiance of the high court’s order regarding construction around the airport. He also said the structure is along NH17-B and the NHAI rules state that no construction shall be permitted within 40m from the centre of the road. “No construction should be allowed within 500m of the Indian Navy compound and in the present case, the construction is in close vicinity of the compound,” Kamtikar stated in his complaint to the various authorities. Speaking to TOI, Kamtikar said that despite several reminders, state authorities have failed to act. The alleged illegal structures have been erected on land that belongs to the Sancoale comunidade but the authorities are turning a blind eye to it, the Dabolim residents said

Odisha man stabs himself at Margao railway station

Times of India | 3 days ago | 23-09-2022 | 11:27 am

Times of India

3 days ago | 23-09-2022 | 11:27 am

MARGAO: Saroj Bariha, 28, a native of Odisha, who had come to Goa in search of work, stabbed himself with a knife at a fast food stall near the Margao railway station on Thursday. Police said that Bariha and his two other companions came by train from Odisha and got down at the Margao railway station. “While they were having snacks at a nearby food stall, Bariha, all of a sudden snatched a knife from the vendor and inflicted injuries on his neck,” police said. He was rushed to the South Goa district hospital, Margao, where he is undergoing treatment. Police said that he is learnt to be of unsound mind.

More News

Latest News