New Delhi, December 22
The PGIMER, Chandigarh, will soon have a regional cancer research centre, with world-class facilities for cancer research and treatment.
The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramdoss, told The Tribune that the infrastructure of the cancer research centre in the PGIMER would be designed on the lines of the Rotary Cancer Centre at AIIMS in Delhi and would be the first-of-its-kind facility for cancer patients up north. According to the PGI Director, Prof K.K. Talwar, the institute was in the process of working out a plan for the infrastructure of the new project.
“When the research centre will start functioning is not clear at present as it all depends upon how fast the government sanctions the money for the institute, “ he said. The PGI, he said, already had a strong medical and surgical oncology section and the radiotherapy department, besides state-of-the-art facilities for the treatment of cancer patients, who come to the institute not only from states in the north, but also far-off places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The high energy linear accelerator for advanced therapy of cancer patients, installed at the cost of Rs 10 crore, would start functioning within next few weeks. Besides, the bone marrow transplant centre would also start operating by the next month, he added.
The PGI authorities have not yet earmarked the exact location of the centre. However, the plan is to shift all existing facilities under one roof and add new ones there. Besides this, the research centre would also have world-class facilities to conduct basic research in the field and develop various molecular approaches in cancer research, added Professor Talwar.
