India’s largest Cancer Institute to come up in Haryana’s Jhajjar

Union Health Minister JP Nadda has announced that India’s  largest cancer hospital, the National Cancer Institute will be inaugurated in Haryana’s Jhajjar district in January.
The Institute aims to bridge the deficit of tertiary cancer care in the northern region. The Institute would play a pivotal role in cancer research in the country.

National Cancer Institute

The salient features of the National Cancer Institute are:

• The National Cancer Institute will be set up with 710 beds, out of which 200 beds will be dedicated for translational research on India-specific cancers.
• The Out-patient Department has been started already.
• Different facilities like surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, anesthesia and palliative care and nuclear medicine would be available at the institute.
• The Institute will also house first-of-its-kind tissue repository in India.
• The National Cancer Institute would operate under AIIMS.
• The Institute will also house 372 units of flats and 1,080 hostel rooms for staff members.
• A night shelter with a capacity of 800 units meant for patient attendants is also been planned.
• The Institute will operate on the lines of National Cancer Institute in the US and German Cancer Research Centre (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum) DKFZ as a nodal centre for indigenous research, promotive, preventive and curative aspects of care and human resource development.
• The Institute would concentrate on conducting and coordinating research on cancers which are more specific to India like tobacco-related cancers, cancer of the uterine cervix, gallbladder cancer and liver cancers and would focus on understanding and analyzing the cause and genesis of these type of cancers.

Out of 80 lakh cancer patients in the world, nearly 29 lakh of them are in India and about 11 lakh cancer cases are detected every year. The National Cancer Institute would be a landmark in the field of cancer research in the country.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2018