Punjab with a population of 9,51,53,000 on 31st December 2011 has only 225 beds and 20 specialist (oncologist) in govt. sector for treatment of 162,000 new cancer patients added to the existing pool of patients every year. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) offers another 180 beds in Punjab with 20 oncologist working in 6 centers. A private hospital adds another 186 beds and 15 oncologist. A
total of 591 beds and 55 oncologist are available for 162,000 patients in Punjab. These facilities are painfully inadequate. Consequently, with these facilities only about 40,000 patients get treatment: 20,000 patients in hospitals run by Govt. of Punjab, 10,000 patients in PAEC treatment centers and around 9500 in a private hospital. The majority of patients remain untreated and/or undetected. Even at hospitals where treatment is being offered a large number of patients are being refused treatment due to the limited capacity. In a private cancer center, 12,000 to 15,000 patients are denied treatment every year. Furthermore, there is a lack of facilities for palliative care, cancer emergency, and bone marrow transplant in these centers. No center in Punjab offers bone marrow transplant except for an Armed Forces Institute. A thousand patients die every year seeking for transplant. Thus there is an unmet need in the community to have a large cancer hospital, or a network of cancer hospitals where no patient is denied treatment and where best possible treatment facilities such as palliative care is provided, cancer emergencies are treated, bone marrow transplant is available and an outreach program helps to detect cancer at an earlier stage.
