Punjab government inks MoU with TMC to set up Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital (HBCH) at Sangrur

Move aimed at imparting quality cancer diagnostic and treatment facilities to the people of Malwa Region

Chandigarh, March 25, 2015: In a bid to impart the best quality diagnostic and treatment facilities to the people in the cancer affected Malwa region of the state, the Punjab Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) Mumbai for setting up Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital (HBCH) at Sangrur.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that this MoU was signed by Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Vini Mahajan and Director TMC R.A. Badwe on behalf of the Punjab government and TMC respectively in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, on Tuesday late evening. The MoU was a part of the ongoing endeavors of the Punjab government to completely eliminate the curse of cancer from the state.

The spokesperson further said that HBCH would be set up at Civil Hospital, Sangrur and would act as an Outreach facility to the upcoming Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital Research Centre at Mullanpur, Mohali (SAS Nagar) district. The HBCH would be established by the Tata Memorial Center (TMC) Mumbai within the premises of Civil Hospital to provide best cancer treatment to the people of the Malwa region. The main aim of setting up HBCH was to set up a Cancer care facility in District Civil Hospital, Sangrur for catering the population of the Sangrur and other adjoining districts of the Malwa region.

The HBCH would have 10 day care beds, three Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, three recovery beds and eight inpatient beds. This centre would also be equipped with high end cancer diagnostic and treatment facilities and RT treatment requirements like 3D-CRT, SRS, IMRT, IGRT, etc. besides having chemotherapy and surgical facility. This centre was a part of the state government commitment to eradicate the menace of cancer from Punjab by setting up state-of-the art cancer diagnostic and treatment centers across the state. It is estimated that the HBCH would cater to about 2500 to 3000 cancer patients in the coming four to five years.

It may be recalled that the state-of-the-art equipment and latest machines have been installed at HBCH, Sangrur and the cancer patients were being diagnosed and treated in the OPD besides few critical patients have been operated upon even before the formal launch of this cancer hospital, which was likely to be inaugurated shortly.