National Cancer Institute Inaugurated in Haryana

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi inaugurated National Cancer Institute (NIC) at Badhsa in Jhajjar district of Haryana.
Prime Minister also inaugurated an ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Faridabad.  It is the first Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College and hospital in North India. It has 510 beds and includes the facilities of surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, anaesthesia, palliative care, and nuclear medicine.

Fact Box

There are 6 existing ESIC medical colleges at Kolkata, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Gulbarga.

About Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)

• It was established under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948(ESI Act) by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
• It is an autonomous organization and it manages the funds of all employees earning ₹21,000 or less per month.
• Employees’ State Insurance includes self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers.
• ESIC is operating many medical, dental, nursing and paramedical schools in India.

What is the purpose of ESIC Hospital?

Workers are generally exposed to sickness related to their occupation; they may even suffer from temporary or permanent disablement etc, which results in loss of their wages. Institutions like this negate the resulting physical or financial distress in such contingencies and uphold human dignity in times of crises.

Cancer Incidence in Haryana

According to 2018 survey, 38% of deaths due to cancer occur in Haryana. Some of the identified reasons are:

• Rapid industrialization
• Industries are disposing waste directly into the river without undergoing any sewage treatment process. This gives rise to air and water-borne diseases among which skin infection and cancer are most common.
• Improper sanitation
• Excessive use of fertilizers

The contamination due to the reasons listed above pollutes water by causing eutrophication (the phenomenon of a body of water becoming overly enriched with minerals and nutrients which induce excessive growth of plants and algae) and the consumption of this polluted water is resulting in cancer.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2019