Bhubaneswar, Oct 6 : Odisha is now focused to make the state a major centre of cancer care in Eastern India, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.
Speaking after dedicating two state-of-the-art Linear Accelerators at a cost of Rs.38 crore for radio therapy at Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer at Cuttack on Friday, Patnaik said Odisha in recent times is witnessing massive transformation in the healthcare sector.
He said earlier, there were two linear accelerators and now with new linear accelerators, the total number of linear accelerators in the state went up to four.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated a 30-bedded day-care unit at the institute, enhancing the total number of day-care beds to 42. The unit has been established at a cost of Rs.6 crore.
Joining the programme on a virtual platform, Patnaik said besides infrastructure development for cancer care at public health institutions, the State Government is roping in private players to invest in development of cancer care institutions.
Citing examples, he said that apart from Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre and Bagchi-Shankara Cancer Hospital in Bhubaneswar, a new cancer hospital is also coming up in Jharsuguda.
More such institutions will come up in the next few years. This transformative change will certainly be a great boost for people in healthcare, he added.
Stating that cancer treatment is a highly expensive process, Naveen asked the doctors to look into this aspect, and create confidence in patients and relatives. He appealed to the patients and their family members to face this situation with a positive attitude.
The Chief Minister said that the entire cost of treatment for each patient attending AHPGIC is borne by the State Government under various schemes. The Institute is on fast forward growth mode, providing quality service by an efficient workforce and modern state-of-the-art equipment, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Health and Family Welfare Minister Niranjan Pujari said that AHPGIC is a centre of excellence in cancer treatment, education and research.
In Odisha all the critical care processes are being done completely free of cost.
The Government, Pujari said is spending Rs 1,046 crore for free chemo-therapy and other facilities across the state.
