Free treatment worth Rs. 5 lakhs, 65 cancer patients rehabilitated in Tamil Nadu

CM Stalin has made Tamil Nadu a pioneer state in Cancer Robotic surgeries in India. Last year, CM Stalin inaugurated an advanced cancer robotic surgery centre in Omandurar government multispecialty hospital, built at the cost of 34.60 crores. Tamil Nadu is the first state in India to provide such treatment in a state government hospital on behalf of the Department of Health and Family Welfare. According to Dr Suresh Kumar, the treatment facility has been available for a year now and almost 65 cancer patients benefited from the surgeries. The Tamil Nadu government is providing the initial level treatment worth 5 lakhs as a service, meaning free of cost.

Cancer surgeon Dr Suresh Kumar said, "In India, advanced cancer robotic surgery is performed in a state hospital in Tamil Nadu only. In no other state hospitals, the treatment is provided free of cost. CM Stalin launched the advanced robotic surgery centre last year in Omandurar state multispecialty hospital for the benefit of the public. Till now 65 cancer patients have been treated since the launch. The Tamil Nadu government bears the initial treatment cost of 5 lakhs. The cost of the treatment differs based on the intensity of the disease but TN government is providing the treatment free of cost for the needed patients without any partiality."

What is Robotic surgery?

Robotic surgery is similar to other surgeries in all aspects except the surgery will be via robots. Robotic surgery consists of 3 components namely patient cart, vision cart and surgeon's console. Patient-side cart positioned near the patient has 4 arms attached to the patient. The vision cart, as the name suggests, consists of cameras to enable the visualisation of what is happening inside the patient's body. The most important among the 3 is the surgeon's console which follows the instructions given by the surgeon. On the contrary to a common misconception that a robot performs the surgery, it only executes what a surgeon is instructing. The major advantage of robot surgery is that a surgeon sitting in a console room can perform the surgery by giving instructions to the robot, which in turn executes the orders of the surgeon to perfection.

What types of cancers can be treated via robotic surgery?

Almost 90% of cancers can be treated via the robotic surgery method. The logic behind using robots to perform surgeries is to avoid human error and achieve 100% perfection. For instance, if the instruction is to make a hole in a patient's body in a particular place, robots will never deviate from the marked area, not even 1 mm. The usage of robots helps in enabling the accuracy and precision of surgeries so that the patient doesn't have to go through unnecessary discomfort. Secondly, a surgeon's hands cannot penetrate into all organs which makes it difficult to perform surgery in some cases. These kinds of constraints can be eliminated by robots which can reach the insides of any organ. Robots help in reducing the collateral damage and pain experienced by the patients. Robots make the surgical procedure more pristine and hygienic.

Tamil Nadu is a top and pioneer state in valuing and respecting a human's life also.