Kozhikode: A tertiary cancer centre (TCC) would be opened in Kozhikode on Saturday by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. This would be the first of such a specialist cancer centre in Malabar in the government sector, said MK Raghavan, MP.
In terms of facilities, the centre would be on a par with the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, he added in a press conference here on Friday. Twenty-two haemodialysis machines for the centre would be handed over on November 26.
The work for the centre, with 75 per cent support from the Centre, had started way back in 2013 and the MP had made a request in this regard.
The modernisation of the cancer treatment facilities at government medical college hospital here had started in 2009. With the Centre promising Rs 45.5 crore, the then state government had granted a 25 per cent share for the TCC.
The MP opined that the TCC would be a great relief for patients from Malabar, who otherwise had to seek treatment in the RCC or other private hospitals. Every year, more than 6,000 cancer patients from six districts seek treatment at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Once the TCC becomes a reality, that would be a boon for poor patients from Malabar.
The haemodialysis and mammography machines were bought from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme of AK Antony and MK Raghavan. The basic development of the dialysis project was done with the help of Rs 50,00,000 this scheme by Vayalar Ravi, MP. This centre would be launched by Antony on November 26.
Only the cancer out-patient wing and daycare chemotherapy centre have been shifted to the new building. Radiotherapy, surgical oncology, medical oncology, paediatric oncology and gynaecology would set up in the new building after the inauguration, said the MP.
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