GUWAHATI:
In a bid to boost cancer care in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate seven cancer hospitals in the state, and also lay the foundation stone for seven other upcoming cancer hospitals at an event slated to be held in Dibrugarh on April 28.
It was informed that all these cancer hospitals will be set up by the Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF), a joint venture between the Tata Trust and the Assam government.
Of the seven hospitals to be inaugurated, while two are Level 2 (L2) centres in Dibrugarh and Barpeta, the others are Level 3 (L3) centres at Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Darrang, Kokrajhar and Tezpur.
While the hospitals in Dibrugarh and Barpeta will have 185 and 140 beds respectively, the five L3 hospitals will have 45 beds each.
The L2 centres will have comprehensive radiation, surgical and chemotherapy and all kinds of diagnostic facilities while the L3 centres will have radiation, chemotherapy and daycare facilities.
It was informed that the L2 centre in Dibrugarh will be as good as the SCI in Guwahati. Three other centres, including the SCI will be ready soon.
Two other cancer care centres will be set up in Diphu and Silchar.
Notably, the ACCF has planned to set up more than 18 different types of cancer care hospitals in the state.
On April 22, State health minister Keshab Mahanta reviewed the arrangements of the hospitals in Kokrajhar and Dhubri with senior officials of health and ACCF.
Accompanied by BTR executive member (EM) for health, Arup Kumar Dey, and Kokrajhar East MLA Lawrence Islary, Mahanta visited the newly constructed Cancer Centre hospital at Besorgaon in Kokrajhar and inspected the progress of the construction work.
“The Prime Minister will inaugurate seven cancer hospitals in the state. He will also lay the foundation stone of seven new Cancer Hospitals in Assam at the same event,” Mahanta told the press after the inspection.
Mahanta also visited Dhubri and took stock of the progress and preparedness for the foundation stone laying ceremony of Dhubri Cancer Hospital to be held on April 28.
The ACCF was set up by the state health department in partnership with Tata Trusts in December 2017 to construct and commission a three-level cancer care network in the state.
The state government has contributed about Rs 750 crore towards the construction of the hospitals while Tata Trusts had undertaken the task of providing equipment required in these hospitals and committed a grant of up to Rs 830 crore for the purpose.
According to the health department, the seven cancer hospitals will be the biggest boost to cancer care in the state, which registers more than 36,000 cancer patients each year.
Of the 18 cancer hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities, in the first phase ACCF will set up nine cancer care hospitals and one apex centre in State Cancer Institute (SIC) in Guwahati.