GUWAHATI, Feb 6 - Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today announced that an amount of Rs 250 crore has been earmarked in the State Budget for the next financial year for cancer care.
In his Budget speech, Sarma said that Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) statistics pointed out a stark picture of the reality of the burden of cancer � cases of cancer in Assam and North Eastern Region is highest in the country.
Unfortunately, virtually no initiative was undertaken by the earlier governments in this regard. Due to lack of availability of cancer treatment facility in Assam, patients� families were being forced to spend their hard-earned money to travel hundreds of kilometres away to Mumbai, Chennai and other cities of India in search of treatment.
