GUWAHATI, July 19 - State Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today informed the State Assembly that there are at present around 60,000 cancer patients in the State.
Replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Ajanta Neog on the existing cancer treatment facilities, Sarma told the House that to facilitate early detection of the disease, the State Government will set up separate outdoor patient department (OPD) wing in all the medical colleges in the State besides procuring a PET-CITY Scan Machine which aids in early detection of cancer.
The 200-bed cancer hospital at the GMCH, which was given a go ahead in 2009, will be functional from October 2 this year, the Minister said.
�It will be an autonomous one and equipped with state-of-the-art devices like PET-CITY Scan which till date is not available in the region,� he said, adding that senior radiation oncologist Dr Bibhash Goswami, who is at present serving at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai, has agreed to join the hospital as its first director.
Apart from the GMCH, all the other medical colleges will also have a 100-bed wing for cancer patients and will be equipped with LINAC machines and will become operational from next year. The State currently has three LINAC machines to treat the disease. �Even our private partner like the Narayana Superspeciality Hospital has agreed to start a 20-bed cancer wing with a LINAC machine,� he stated.
�All the civil hospitals will have OPD for cancer patients with trained medical staff and at least two doctors of which one will be a lady doctor,� the Minister said.
