A cuppa can cheer the cash-strapped state heath department in more ways than one. Tea can make the tills ring again and warn people about cancer, as well.

Pushed to the brink with staggering monthly expenses, the health department has sought the help of a non-government organisation to set up tea-stalls in city hospitals and address the problem of cancer at the same time.

Each stall will be fitted with touch screens that will continuously flash messages, informing customers of tell-tale signs of cancer, its detection and prevention.

According to the deal with the organisation, Cancer Foundation, the profit made by selling tea, manufactured by a multinational, from the hospital outlets will be used for treating cancer patients in the hospital.

?Basic words of caution, on a painless lump or continuous bleeding or even an ulcer, need to be hammered in every day, for the people to sit up and take a close look at things they never would have bothered to look at otherwise. And this will be achieved through these stalls,? claimed Probir Sur, director of the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research.

While the project will be started in two hospitals for the moment ? SSKM and Calcutta Medical College ? plans are afoot to rope in the other teaching hospitals in the city.

With the National Cancer Atlas suggesting that Calcutta is on the top in terms of the incidence of lung cancer among the four metros, it will make sense if people pick up the warnings early enough and get themselves treated fast.

For those who cannot afford to meet the expenses, the state can chip in with support.

The expenses are staggering. Calcutta Medical College alone posts Rs 10,000 every day to the state exchequer from eco-cardiograph carried out by a private agency operating on the premises.

?The treatment of cancer is becoming increasingly expensive and despite the best of intentions, the state has its limitations. If we can help a few with the money made, I think it will make sense,? said Jayshree Mitra, principal of Calcutta Medical College. She is scheduled to decide on the blueprint next week.