Rajkot: AIIMS Opens Rs 39-Crore Advanced Radiotherapy Facility for Saurashtra and Kutch Cancer Patients

Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda on Monday virtually inaugurated an Advanced Radiotherapy Facility at AIIMS Rajkot, built for about Rs 39 crore under the PMSSY. Equipped with a high-energy LINAC, a wide-bore CT simulator and an HDR brachytherapy unit, it is expected to serve 1.54 crore people across 11 districts of Saurashtra and Kutch and handle 500-700 cases a year initially.

Awaaz Punjab Investigations Desk2 November 20263 min readRead in all 3 languages

Cancer patients in Saurashtra and Kutch will no longer have to travel to Ahmedabad, Mumbai or Pune for several advanced radiotherapy procedures, after AIIMS Rajkot on Monday inaugurated an Advanced Radiotherapy Facility built at a cost of about Rs 39 crore. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda inaugurated the facility virtually.

Source: IANS via The Rahnuma

Set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), the facility is expected to serve a catchment population of about 1.54 crore people across 11 districts of Saurashtra and Kutch, including Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Surendranagar, Gir Somnath, Devbhumi Dwarka and Botad. Eligible beneficiaries will receive treatment free of cost, while others will be charged highly subsidised rates, officials said.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

Rs 39 croreCost of the new radiotherapy facility

1.54 croreCatchment population across Saurashtra and Kutch

11Districts the facility is expected to serve

500-700Cases it is expected to handle a year initially

The department is equipped with a high-energy Linear Accelerator (LINAC), a wide-bore CT simulator for treatment planning and a High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy unit. The LINAC supports millimetre-level precision techniques including Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), Image-Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) and stereotactic treatments such as SRS, SRT and SBRT. The department has been treating patients since late May and will focus initially on head and neck, gynaecological, breast, bone and soft-tissue cancers.

Source: Indian Republic

Inaugurating the facility, Nadda said no one should be denied cancer treatment because of where they live or what they earn, and described AIIMS Rajkot as a boon for the people of Saurashtra and Kutch. The programme was attended by Members of Parliament Parshottambhai Rupala and Kesridevsinh Jhala, AIIMS Rajkot Executive Director Dr L. N. Dorairajan, and senior officials and faculty of the institute.

With radiotherapy now joining chemotherapy and surgical oncology on the same campus, the institute says patients from the region can complete the main pillars of cancer treatment under one roof instead of splitting their care across distant cities.

Sources