Health and Family Welfare minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the government is contemplating to make Guwahati the future medical hub of the state. He was addressing the first anniversary of GMC Cancer Hospital here.
A sum of Rs 150 crore has been sanctioned for construction of a new building as part of the State Cancer Institute Guwahati. The extended building will cater to in-patients and the existing facilities and equipments will also be tripled.
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Speaking on the occasion Sarma said, “We aim to make Guwahati the future medical hub. Moreover, with 19 cancer care units to be set up at the district level in Assam, it will become the best cancer care centre in the entire eastern India. The aim is to make Guwahati the future medical hub.”
The Cancer Hospital is the first one in the Northeast region to provide PET-CT facility. And by March 31, 2018 it will also have PET-MRI facility with a fund of 60 crores.
Moreover, some new Post-Graduate courses like radio oncology, medicine oncology and surgical oncology will soon start at the State Cancer Institute.
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“In the last three years, we have faced a lack of professionals and we need huge manpower in the healthcare sector. So some training courses will also be started to build more manpower. We have also set up a new model to bring human resources from outside Assam,” Sarma added.
He further said, “Under the Atal Amrit Abhiyan (AAA) scheme there will be full re-imbursement up to Rs 2 lakh. The AAA smartcards’ distribution is going on and it will come into effect from April 1, 2018.”
Under the new budget, the Central government introduced the Ayushman Bharat scheme which will provide a family healthcare assistance of Rs 5 lakhs. On the other hand, the AAA scheme caters to each individual.
“We are trying to sync the Ayushman Bharat and AAA schemes so that we can create a bigger synergy,” Sarma noted.
Padma Bhushan Dr PB Desai delivered the first anniversary oration on the topic ‘The Dazzling Brilliance of Science – Then, Now and Into the Future.’
Tracing the history of medicine and science over the centuries, Desai said, “There should be a mix of science and technology and bedside clinical art. It is very important to listen to the patients.”
“In the future, there will be a genomic revolution. There are researches undertaken towards cloning and simple mutation of the life span gene can increase one’s age by fifty per cent. Today’s research is tomorrow’s medicine,” Desai added.
He also left a note of caution and said, “It is important to understand the limits of medicine. One should know when to stop the treatment.”