Taking advanced and accountable healthcare facilities to a greater height, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday dedicated State Cancer Institute, Guwahati to the service of the people.

He also inaugurated the Renovated State of Art Blood Centre at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

He also unveiled an extended emergency department in GMCH and initiated the process of DBT transfer to one lakh IHH beneficiaries for the construction of individual household toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission at a function held at the GMCH auditorium in Guwahati.

It may be noted that the five-storied State Cancer Institute (SCI), Phase 2, has facilities like OTs, BMT, Cath Lab, ICUs, HDUs etc. The new block has two hundred beds and together with the old block the total number of beds stands at 350.

Accordingly, the State Cancer Institute will cater to 350 inpatient with medical services like radiation, chemotherapy, surgery/robotic surgery, nuclear medicine, bone marrow transplant, academics and research. Moreover, SCI is equipped with the facilities like MRI, CT, Mammography, Digital X-ray, Endoscopy, Laboratory, Blood Bank and CSSD.

The total cost of the project is Rs. 395 crore.

The Art Model Blood Centre inaugurated today with a budget cost of Rs 3.88 crore has all modern facilities.

The facilities that the blood centre will provide are Whole Human Blood I.P., Concentrated Red Blood Corpuscles I.P., Fresh Frozen Plasma, Cryoprecipitated I.P., Platelet Concentrate I.P., Platelet Aphaeresis, Platelet Aphaeresis Leucodepleted, Leucopharesis, Plasmapheresis,  Leucodepleted Red Cell Concentrate, Leucodepleted Random Donor Platelet etc.

Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister Dr. Sarma said that giving advanced, accountable and accessible healthcare facilities has been a commitment of the government and taking it to a new height, his government has ventured into a mission of bringing about paradigm shift in the health care delivery system across the state.

"For creating an advanced cancer care system in the state, his government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Trusts on February 3, 2018. To implement the project, a Special Purpose Vehicle - Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF) was formed. Taking it forward, an apex referral centre at State Cancer Institute, Guwahati (L1), five number of Comprehensive Cancer Care Centres (‘L2s’) at Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Silchar, Diphu and Dhubri and 11 numbers of Diagnostic and Day Care Clinics (‘L3s’) at Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Jorhat, Kokrajhar, Darrang, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Nalbari, Nagaon, Sibsagar and Goalpara were set up," the Assam Chief Minister said.

Sarma said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had inaugurated seven hospitals at Dibrugarh, Barpeta, Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Jorhat, Darrang and Kokrajhar on 28th April 2022.

"Two State Cancer Institutes in Guwahati and Silchar have already been dedicated to the service of the people and the remaining seven are planned to be completed over 2025 and 2026. With an investment over Rs. 3600 crore, the state government is building a world-class cancer care network in Assam," the Chief Minister said.

Making his future plan clear, he also announced that the state government will also introduce Proton Beam Therapy in Assam to facilitate advanced and targeted cancer treatment in the state.

He also said that State government with the help of the Central government is working in full throttle to make Assam a state for ‘medical tourism’ with all advanced medical facilities to cater not only to the patients of North East but South East Asian nations as well.

In another programme Chief Minister Dr. Sarma dedicated a PET-CT machine at B Baruah Cancer Centre, Guwahati with a project cost of Rs 13.14 crore.

The PET-CT scan facility is an advanced imaging modality used for diagnosis, staging and evaluation of response to treatment of many types of cancers.

Approximately 2000 patients will be benefited from the project every year. He on this occasion also stated that State government in assistance with the Central government is working to make Dr. B. Baruah Cancer Institute a centre of excellence where patients can get cutting edge treatment facilities without having to go outside the state.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Keshab Mahanta, MLAs Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Ramendra Narayan Kalita, Principal GMCH Dr. Achyut Baishya, Project Director Assam Cancer Care Foundation Gautam Chintey, Director BBCI Dr. Bibhuti Bhusan Borthakur and others were present on the occasion.

It is worth mentioning that in Assam’s journey towards progress, the present State government has endeavoured in a series of projects.  It may be noted that in health sector while there were only six Medical Colleges in Assam since independence till 2018, with major emphasis on setting up new medical colleges in recent times, today the state has 12 Medical Colleges.

Three new medical colleges at Kokrajhar, Nalbari and Nagaon were inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 14th April, 2023. 
In addition, the construction of medical colleges at Tinsukia, Charaideo, Biswanath Chariali, second Medical College at Guwahati, Golaghat, Bongaigaon, Marigaon, Tamulpur and Dhemaji are ongoing on. The foundation for Karimganj Medical College has been laid. Two more medical Colleges are proposed at Sivasagar and Goalpara.

The North East’s first AIIMS inaugurated by the Prime Minister at Changsari is another big boost to the health infrastructure of the state.

With the increase in medical colleges in the state, the number of MBBS seats has also increased from 726 in 2014 to 1500 MBBS seats as of date. 
The number of PG seats has increased to 722 from 395 in 2014. Similarly, 44 super-speciality seats are now available in various institutions under the Govt of Assam.

Till 2014, there was only the Regional Dental College, Guwahati in the whole of North East India with an annual intake of 50 BDS and 10 PG Seats.

In 2016, two more Dental Colleges were established in Dibrugarh and Silchar.

For rendering critical care to the patients, under Assam Critical Care Infrastructure Project 365 tech-enabled ICU beds have been created in 23 district hospitals which is a major intervention in critical care services in the state.

Moreover, to provide cushion to the people of the state to afford cashless health care facilities, Ayushman Asom Mukhya Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which is an extension of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) has been launched.

All the beneficiaries under National Food Security Act (NFSA) who are not covered in AB-PMJAY are included by the State Government. NFSA families with valid Ration and Aadhar cards are entitled to cashless medical treatment benefits under the scheme.