Mizoram will soon have a cancer specialty hospital to cater to the ever-growing needs of the people, health minister Dr R Lalthangliana said on Monday.
“We are going to establish a cancer specialty hospital within a few months. Hopefully, the proposed hospital will be one of the best of its kind in the Northeast,” Mizoram health minister Lalthangliana said while addressing party workers at Mizo Hnam Run in Aizawl on Monday.
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He said the state government has approached Japan International Cooperation for the Rs 500 crore project, which will be established at Zembawk in the eastern outskirts of Aizawl.
The government will engage international-standard architectural plans and the construction is likely to begin in two-three months, he said.
According to the minister, Mizoram has been facing tremendous problems in treating cancer due to lack of facilities in the existing cancer hospital at Zemabawk in Aizawl, which is equipped with unsophisticated therapy machines.
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“We have purchased Rs 10 crore machines for treating cancer patients and we are planning to establish one of the best cancer specialty hospitals in the Northeast,” he said.
He said the proposed hospital, when completed, will benefit people from both within and outside the state.
“The proposed hospital will immensely benefit the people especially within Mizoram as it would ease them from spending huge money and time because they will no more have to go outside the state for treatment,” he said.
The proposed cancer specialty hospital would be set up at the site of the existing cancer hospital at Zemabawk in the eastern outskirt of Aizawl, he said.
According to the health minister, the Mizoram government has already obtained a Rs 482 crore sanction order from the North Eastern Council (NEC) for an upgrade of the Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Sciences (RIPANS) near the proposed site of a cancer specialty hospital.
He said the state government is making massive efforts to upgrade the existing 300 health sub-centres into health and wellness centres by 2023.
Lalthangliana also said he visited the United States in January and sought help from the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) to fight against the growing spread of AIDS in the state.
He said Mizoram has the highest AIDS incident rate in the country and the spread of the deadly disease is extremely “alarming.”
Citing the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China’s Wuhan, the health minister said the state government has set up a task force committee to monitor any measure related to prevention of the spread.
“Apart from regular screening of passengers at Lengpui airport, we are planning to set up a screening check post at Zokhawthar on the Mizoram-Myanmar border and inter-state borders,” he said.
He further said two persons, who returned to Mizoram from China recently, have also been screened and were confirmed negative for the deadly virus.