Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday dedicated to the nation seven cancer hospitals in Assam at a function held in Dibrugarh. The cancer hospitals are built at Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Darrang, Tezpur, Lakhimpur and Jorhat.
The prime minister also laid the foundation stone of seven new cancer hospitals at Dhubri, Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Tinsukia and Golaghat to be constructed under phase 2 of the project.
Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Rameswar Teli, Former CJI and Rajya Sabha member, Ranjan Gogoi and noted industrialist Ratan Tata were among those present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi paid homage to the great sons and daughters of Assam, and said that cancer hospitals in Assam that were dedicated to the nation on Thursday and the ones for which foundation stone was laid today, will augment healthcare capacities in Northeast as well as South Asia.
Acknowledging that cancer has been a big problem not only in Assam but also in the Northeast, the prime minister said, “Our poorest, middle class families are the most affected by this”.
Modi also said that this year’s budget’s envisaged a Rs 1,500 crore scheme - Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North-East (PM-DeVINE). Under the scheme, cancer treatment is a focus area and a facility is proposed for Guwahati also, he said.
Speaking about ‘Swasthya ke Saptrishisi’, the prime minister said, "The effort of the government is that disease itself does not arise. That's why our government has given a lot of emphasis on Preventive Healthcare. The yoga, fitness related programs are going on for this reason.
"Second, if the disease occurs, it should be known in the early stages. For this, lakhs of new testing centers are being built across the country. The third focus is that people should have better first aid facilities near their homes. For this primary health centers are being improved.
"The fourth effort is that the poor should get free treatment in the best hospital. For this, under schemes like Ayushman Bharat, free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh is being given by the Government of India.
"Our fifth focus is to minimize the dependence on big cities for good treatment. For this, our government is making unprecedented investments on health infrastructure. The prime minister explained that “before 2014, there were only 7 AIIMS in the country. Out of these, except one in Delhi, there was no MBBS course or OPD, some of them were incomplete even. We rectified all these and declared 16 new AIIMS in the country. AIIMS Guwahati is also one of them.”
On the sixth point of the vision, the prime minister said, “Our government is addressing the shortfall in the number of doctors. In the last seven years, more than 70 thousand new seats have been added for MBBS and PG. Our government is also treating more than 5 lakh Ayush doctors at par with allopathic doctors.”
"The seventh focus of the government is digitization of health services. The effort of the government is to get rid of long lines for treatment, to get rid of the problems in the name of treatment. For this many schemes have been implemented," Modi added.
Modi emphasized that “the effort is that the citizens of the whole country can get the benefits of the schemes of the central government, anywhere in the country, there should be no restriction for that. This is the spirit of One Nation, One Health. This spirit gave strength to the country even in the biggest epidemic of 100 years, gave strength to deal with the challenge.”
Over 900 medicines are now available at affordable rates in Jan Aushadhi Kendras, he said, adding that under the Ayushman Bharat Schemes many beneficiaries are cancer patients.
Modi reiterated the Central government’s commitment to ensure all facilities from oxygen to ventilators in Assam. He asked everyone to get vaccinated as the government has expanded the ambit of vaccination by approving vaccination of children and precaution doses for adults.
"We are pushing the development of Assam and the country with the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas," the prime minister said.
Assam Cancer Care Foundation, a joint venture of Government of Assam and Tata Trusts, is executing a project to build South Asia’s largest affordable cancer care network with 17 Cancer care hospitals spread across the state. Under the Phase 1 of the project, out of 10 hospitals, the construction of seven hospitals have been completed while three hospitals are at various level of construction. Phase 2 of the project will witness construction of seven new cancer hospitals, a release stated.
