More than 1.5 million Cancer Patients in Bangladesh

Treatment for cancer is very expensive. Patients who belong to a lower income group have to face a lot of difficulties in arranging money for treatment.

Nargis Begum, 39, a housemaid received eight sessions of chemotherapy at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital, each session costing her Tk 11,000. She will need 15 more radiotherapy sessions, each of which is going to cost her Tk 10,000. She could not get bank loans. She along with her husband is arranging money with the help of relatives, and by having only one meal a day. “What will I do? I don’t know how to continue the treatment,” said Nargis, although doctors have told her that her cancer can be cured.

According to a report by World Health Organisation, oesophagus cancer – a cancer in the food tract, is the most common type of cancer in Bangladesh, followed by lip cavity and oral cavity cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer and cervix uteri cancer. NICRH Director Prof Dr Md Mosharraf Hossen expressed his hope to see better cancer treatment facilities in Bangladesh by the next three years as the ruling party Awami League has pledged to do so.

Source: Dhaka Tribune