Cancer care in the Northeast received a massive boost on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating seven new cancer hospitals and laying the foundation of seven more in Assam where 34,000 cancer cases are detected every year.
Dedicating the advanced cancer care facilities to the people of Assam at a rally in Dibrugarh, Modi said the new hospitals in Assam will “augment” healthcare capacities in Northeast as well as South Asia but he wished “there are no patients and people never fall ill.”
Modi was on a day-long visit to the state and he addressed a rally in Diphu before attending the Dibrugarh rally.
The cancer hospitals are to be run by the Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF), a joint initiative of the state government and the Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata attended the inaugural function in Dibrugarh.
Tata, in his speech, said that it was an important day in the history of Assam. “It is a day that raises Assam to a higher level in terms of health care and treatment of cancer that has not been experienced by the other states of the country,” he said. Tata praised Modi and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for making the hospitals possible.
The inaugurated cancer hospitals are located in Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Darrang, Tezpur, Lakhimpur, and Jorhat, while foundation stones were laid for seven cancer hospitals in Dhubri, Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Tinsukia and Golaghat through the virtual mode.
According to an official report, one in four men and one in six women are likely to get cancer in Assam, which contributes over 34,00 new cancer cases of the 45,000 plus detected in the Northeast every year.
Amal Chandra Kataki, leading oncologist and director of the Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) in Guwahati, told The Telegraph that setting up of the new hospitals across the state was a very good initiative. “This will take cancer care to the doorstep of patients and attendants, saving them precious time and money travelling to distant places for treatment,” Kataki said, adding the Centre has also budgeted for a dedicated blood cancer treatment project for adults and paediatrics in Guwahati based on a proposal by BBCI to the ministry of development of Northeastern region.
Budgetary provision of Rs 129 crore has been earmarked for this project.
Assam Cancer Care Foundation chief operating officer Dr Sajal Sen said: “The treatment in the new hospitals will be covered under various government schemes. In other cases, they will be charged as per Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) 2014 Guwahati rates which are much less than the regular tariff of various private hospitals.”
Modi took the opportunity to share the advancement and developments taking place in India’s health care sector and how these are helping the population at large.
“In the last 7 years to increase the number of doctors, we have added 70,000 seats for MBBS degree. We have also recognised more than 5 lakh Ayush doctors at the same level as allopathic doctors,” Modi said, adding Ayushman Bharat, a central government scheme, is not only “giving” free treatment to the citizens but also helping in early detection of cancer .
The state government had declared local holiday in Karbi Anglong and Dibrugarh districts on Thursday on account of Modi's visit. The turnout at Diphu and Dibrugarh were massive.
At Diphu in Karbi Anglong district, Modi laid the foundation stone of veterinary college (Diphu), degree college (West Karbi Anglong) and an agricultural college (Kolonga, West Karbi Anglong) worth more than Rs 500 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for more than 2950 Amrit Sarovar projects at a cost of Rs 1150 crore to develop and rejuvenate water bodies in the state so that these become the source of water for villages and income.
He also said persistent efforts by his government in the past 8 years, Assam and North East have witnessed return of peace and development resulting in removal of the AFSPA from most parts of the region.
