Guwahati, November 1: Assam is set to host a proton beam therapy centre at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) after the state government signed a memorandum of understanding with Belgium-based Ion Beam Applications (IBA) on October 31, in an agreement the state described as the first of its kind undertaken by a state government in India, PTI reported.

Source: PTI via The Economic Times

The agreement was signed at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Dispur in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Minister Ashok Singhal. The centre will use IBA's ProteusONE proton therapy system, and Sarma said it will take at least three years to become operational. The state Cabinet had approved the proposal on August 30, DY365 reported.

Source: DY365

₹600 croreTotal project cost of the GMCH proton therapy centre
₹315 croreWorld Bank loan share of the funding
₹285 croreAssam government's share of the funding
3 yearsMinimum time Sarma says the facility will take to open

Proton beam therapy is an advanced form of radiation treatment that targets tumours precisely while sparing more of the surrounding healthy tissue. In India the treatment is currently available only at a small number of centres, and one report put private-sector costs at up to ₹50 lakh; the Assam government says many treatments at the new centre could fall under the ₹5 lakh cover of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Under the agreement, IBA will also train doctors, medical physicists and technicians, including at international centres.

Source: The CSR Journal

The proton centre crowns a wider cancer-care build-out in Assam: the state government says 17 cancer hospitals are being built across the state, of which 12 are already functional. For patients in the Northeast, who today travel to distant metro cities for advanced radiation treatment, a public facility in Guwahati is meant to cut both cost and travel.

Source: Indulge Express

What is solid

  • Assam signed an MoU with IBA on October 31 for a proton beam therapy centre at GMCH, Guwahati
  • Project cost is ₹600 crore: ₹315 crore World Bank loan plus ₹285 crore from the Assam government
  • Chief Minister Sarma says the facility will take at least three years to become operational

What is only claimed

  • The 'first public-sector' label: the state government and wire reports describe the GMCH centre as India's first public-sector / first state-government proton therapy centre, while health reporting notes that Tata Memorial Centre's ACTREC facility in Navi Mumbai, a public-sector institution, has treated patients with proton therapy since August 2023 — making 'first run by a state government' the precise claim

What happens next: installation of the proton therapy system at GMCH is expected within three years, with staff training running alongside. Patient pricing and the exact share of treatments covered under public insurance schemes are yet to be announced by the state government.