Assam to introduce Rs 500 crore Proton therapy machine for cancer care at GMCH
Guwahati: The Assam government has decided to purchase a Rs 500 crore proton therapy machine for cancer treatment, and will become the first state in the country to introduce this technology in the public health system, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.
During a media interaction at a programme titled 'Natun Diner Alap' (Conversations of a new day) on the occasion of the new year, the chief minister said that proton therapy machines are currently available in the country only in two private hospitals, one each in Mumbai and Chennai.
According to a recent PTI report, Proton therapy is a precision-based radiological treatment for cancer, and ''we have decided to bring this machine to Assam at a cost of Rs 500 crore'', he said.
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Once this equipment arrives, a new horizon will open up for medical tourism in the state, Sarma said.
''Patients from Assam were going out of the state for such treatment, but with the arrival of the machine, a large number of cancer patients from across India will come to the state for treatment,'' he said, reports PTI.
The proton therapy machine will be brought to the State Cancer Institute at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital. Sarma added that in the field of cancer treatment, the state government has gradually been able to introduce new radiological equipment.
''We had decided to set up 17 cancer hospitals and nine of these are already operational.''
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and inaugurated development works worth around Rs 6,500 crore in Darrang, Assam. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Prime Minister extended heartfelt greetings and congratulations to the people of Darrang and to all the citizens of Assam on this historic day of Assam’s development journey.
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