Assam govt to bring Rs 500 cr machine for cancer treatment: Himanta

Guwahati, Jan 1 (PTI) The Assam government has decided to bring a Rs 500 crore proton therapy machine for the treatment of cancer, and will be the first state in the country to have it in the public health system, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.

At present, proton therapy machines are available in the country only in two private hospitals, one each in Mumbai and Chennai, the chief minister said at an interaction with media persons in a programme titled 'Natun Diner Alap' (Conversations of a new day) on the occasion of the new year.

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.

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.

The proton therapy machine will be brought to the State Cancer Institute at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.

In the field of cancer treatment, the state government has gradually been able to introduce new radiological equipment, Sarma said.

''We had decided to set up 17 cancer hospitals and nine of these are already operational,'' PTI DG DG NN