The health minister noted that as cancer treatment facilities in the state are poor, the government is creating comprehensive facilities.
Published Mar 07, 2023 | 4:58 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 07, 2023 | 5:07 PM
Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Vidadala Rajini. (VidadalaRajini/Twitter)
The Andhra Pradesh government is developing cancer treatment facilities to ensure that patients do not leave the state for treatment by 2030, Health Minister Vidadala Rajini has said.
As cancer treatment facilities in the state are poor, the Andhra Pradesh government is creating comprehensive facilities to fight the disease even as the world is witnessing a rise in cases, Rajini said.
“Ours is the only government which is providing cancer care at any cost. Under Aarogyasri, 400 cancer procedures are being freely extended, which involves a cost of ₹400 crore per annum,” the minister said at a review meeting on Monday, 6 March.
She said arrangements are being made in every teaching hospital in the state to offer cancer treatment, which would involve an expenditure of ₹118 crore.
In Visakhapatnam alone, ₹46 crore was spent on equipment while a ₹120-crore regional cancer hospital is being set up in Kurnool.
Regional cancer hospitals in Visakhapatnam and Kurnool will be ready by September 2024, the minister said, even as preparations are being made to establish two more such hospitals in other places.
Rajini said efforts are being made to set up a hospital at every 50 km for comprehensive cancer care in the state.
She directed officials to ensure that all government hospitals offering cancer care to visit villages to conduct cancer tests, including setting up PET CT scanning facilities at government hospitals.
The minister claimed Andhra Pradesh is the “only state” offering cancer care by aligning with the National Cancer Grid. These services are being provided at Visakhapatnam through Homi Bhabha Cancer Institute.
Already, the state government is training its medical personnel at the Homi Bhabha Cancer Institute.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government’s cancer care advisor, Nori Dattatreyudu, noted that the southern state is only the third one in the country to accord notifiable disease status to cancer.
The veteran oncologist said the state government is developing Tirupati Balaji Institute of Oncology as a regional hub.
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