Guwahati, April 4: In a major boost for cancer care in the Northeast, as many as seven hospitals in Assam will be dedicated to cancer patients by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the state on April 28.
The hospitals are located in Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Darrang, Kokrajhar and Tezpur.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation for seven more cancer care hospitals in the state on the same day.
It may be noted that 18 cancer hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities are being planned in Assam under Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF), which is a joint initiative of the Assam government and Tata Trusts.
In the first phase, nine cancer care hospitals, including an apex centre at the State Cancer Institute (SCI) in Guwahati, are set to be made functional.
The new cancer care facilities, with advanced diagnostics infrastructure, will also be accessible to cancer patients from the other northeastern states.
According to an estimate, about 45,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed every year in Northeast India.
The infrastructure is expected to address the needs of cancer patients in the region who, in the absence of advanced cancer care infrastructure, have to travel to other regions, mainly the metropolitan cities, for treatment.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday reviewed the arrangements in Dibrugarh ahead of the Prime Minister’s proposed visit to the Upper Assam town on April 28.
He also reviewed the finishing touches being given to the hospital with doctors and construction engineers
Meanwhile, state health minister Keshab Mahanta on Monday visited the cancer hospital at Lakhimpur to oversee preparations ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.
Mahanta further informed that the trial run of the cancer hospital at Lakhimpur would begin from April 20.