The lack of Positron Emission Tomography ( PET) scan facility at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda in Kangra district, and the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Ner Chowk in Mandi district, has exposed the fragile condition of advanced healthcare services in the hill state. As a result, hundreds of critically-ill patients are forced to travel outside Himachal for essential diagnostic tests. A PET scan is considered one of the most important investigations for the diagnosis, staging and monitoring of cancer patients but access to this crucial facility is extremely limited in government hospitals in the state.
At present, the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and Hospital, Shimla, is the only government institution in Himachal Pradesh where a PET scan facility is available. But this centre is facing a high workload of patients from every district of the state, leading to long waiting periods. Patients suffering from cancer and other life-threatening diseases are often forced to wait for several weeks for appointments, delaying diagnosis and timely treatment.
Doctors and the attendants of patients say that the situation is particularly difficult for poor families, which cannot afford expensive PET scans in private hospitals. Due to the delay at the IGMC, Shimla, many patients are eventually referred to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and Hospitals in Chandigarh, other hospital at Mohali (Punjab) and New Delhi. For families already struggling to foot medical expenses, travelling outside the state entails a huge financial burden, accommodation cost and mental stress.
The healthcare crisis is more serious in the lower Himachal region, especially at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda in Kangra district, the second-largest medical college and hospital in Himachal Pradesh. Though this hospital caters to lakhs of people in the lower areas of Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur, Una and other districts, it still does not have a PET scan machine. Patients from remote rural areas are compelled to travel around 250 km to 500 km for one test, often accompanied by elderly family members.
Today, Himachal Pradesh continues to suffer due to poor planning, shortage of specialist doctors and the lack of investment in advanced medical infrastructure. Even major medical colleges are struggling with inadequate diagnostic facilities, exposing the widening gap between government claims and the ground realities.
Dr Naresh Mehata, a former Joint Director of the state Health Department, warns that the delay in PET scan investigations can adversely affect early cancer detection, treatment planning and survival. He says that in diseases such as cancer, neurological disorders and cardiac ailments, timely diagnosis is critical for saving lives.
Ironically, the Congress government had three years ago announced that PET scan facilities would be established at the IGMC, Shimla, Tanda medical college and the Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College, Ner Chowk in Mandi district. While the facility finally became operational in Shimla, the promised machines at the hospitals at Tanda and Ner Chowk are still to be made available. Though the state government has already deputed doctors and staff to these hospitals, machines are still awaited.
The People’s Voice, Senior Citizen Council, Rotary Helpage Foundation, Dhauladhar Sewa Samiti and the Kangra Welfare Forum have urged the state government to immediately provide PET scan facilities in the Tanda medical college and the Ner Chowk hospital to reduce overcrowding at the IGMC, Shimla, and provide timely healthcare services to critically-ill patients in Himachal Pradesh.