PANAJI: Goa will have its own Regional Cancer Centre at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim for treatment of cancer patients in the state, as the proposal for setting up the centre in the state has already been approved by the central government.
The GMC has been identified by the central government as a point for the regional cancer centre to be set up in the state.
The proposal had been pending in the public health department for a long time and has now been pushed by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane. The central government has sanctioned a fund of Rs 45 crore to the state under a scheme for strengthening of tertiary care cancer facilities.
The government has already directed joint secretary of the public health department Sunil Masurkar to take all the necessary steps in this regard and instructions have been given to health secretary Sudhir Mahajan to initiate the process to sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union government for setting up the regional cancer centre.
Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’ on Thursday, Vishwajit said that cancer has become a common disease in the state and has even overtaken cases of cardiology. He said that a proposal was pending in the health department for a very long time and that it has now been pushed into the final stages of acceptance.
“I will go all out to ensure that the Goa Medical College has its own regional cancer centre, and will work under the guidance of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to ensure that the MoU for the regional cancer centre is signed in the next ten days,” he said.
The Health Minister said that the proposal for signing the MoU was pending for more than a year. He said that the health department will deposit the money with the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation to build the required infrastructure for the regional cancer centre.
The regional cancer centre will be a flagship programme of the state government in the health sector, and the government will ensure that the state gets a state-of-the-art centre in the interest of common man, said Vishwajit.
