Guwahati: Before leaving for New Delhi on Sunday evening, Union home minister Amit Shah inaugurated the radio therapy block of State cancer
institute at Guwahati medical college hospital and also dedicated a newly installed state-of-the-art linear accelerator machine for the
service to the common people. “Northeast will become a cancer care hub very soon,” commented Shah
adding that the new technology installed here would give a major boost to the region’s cancer treatment initiatives. It would help
the affected people tremendously to save money and time while undergoing modern cancer treatments in own places, he added.
Shah criticized the Congress party as it left the region to become the cancer capital of the country. But he assured the ruling BJP
leadership would try its best to serve the people who get infected with the disease. He also informed that a number of cancer care
hospitals are coming up in the region with supports from the Tata Trust. According to various authenticated sources the region is likely to
increase cancer cases to over 57,000 by 2025. Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh emerge as most
affected States in the region where the number of cancer cases continues to grow. Oral cancer cases are high in the region, where as
breast, cervix, stomach and lung cancers are also increasing in the recent past. Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma also echoed the version of
Shah and added that during the last six decades Assam witnessed the emergence of six medical colleges only, but after the saffron party
came to power it decided to set up 23 new medical colleges in the State. Out of those, a few college hospitals were already completed,
added Sarma. He further informed that in a bid to provide succour to the corona-affected families, the government initiated various schemes
like CM’s Shishu Sewa Achani, Prarthana, widow support scheme, etc. State legislative assembly speaker Biswajit Daimary,
health minister Keshab Mahanta, BTC chief Pramod Bodo with many other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
‘Northeast to become cancer care hub’
