CUTTACK: Relief for patients as after a long wait, the mammography machine will be inaugurated at Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre(AHRCC) on Saturday.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the machine and make it functional.The Mammography machine, which is used to detect and diagnose breast cancer , has been lying idle at the State’s only government-run cancer centre for last one month.The machine, which costs around Rs 1.73 crore, has been donated by Susmita Bagchi. Notably, in absence of diagnostic facility, patients with symptoms of breast cancer, had to undergo diagnostic tests in private facilities and had to cough up more money. Many poor patients, who cannot afford the test at the private diagnostic centres were left in the lurch.“The Mammography machine will be made functional immediately after its inauguration. Patients will be provided the facility completely free of cost,” said administrative officer of AHRCC, Rudra Das.The machine will bring much needed relief to the needy and poor patients as on any single day AHRCC receives not less than 50 to 60 breast cancer patients.In another related development, the AHRCC authorities have decided to deploy attendants to dress the wounds of the cancer patients. To encourage the attendants, whose job is to look after patients especially destitute ones, to work as dressers, the hospital authorities have decided to pay them an incentive of Rs 500. “Initially, at least 20 attendants will be engaged as dressers,” said Das.The hospital also has plans to hire dressers through an outsourcing agency. Notably, the cancer patients who have developed serious wounds due to the cancer had to suffer as AHRCC has only three dressers.In absence of adequate dressers, the wounds of the patients were left unattended and not cleaned properly. Many patients and attendants have also complained about the problem time and again. “As there is acute shortage of dressers in the hospital, patients were left to suffer. The authorities should have taken the initiative much earlier,” said Prabhat Das, a patient’s attendant.The 400 bed hospital serves the patients of Odisha and neighboring Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh . Over 40,000 patients visit the hospital annually.

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