TIRUPATI: Sri Venkateswara Institute of Cancer Care and Advance Research (SVICAR) will function as the command centre for the cancer grid in south India, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said after laying the foundation stone for the new hospital along with Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata in Tirupati on Friday.
The Rs 600-crore centre will be constructed on 25 acres of land along the foothills of Tirumala, Naidu said and added that cancer hospitals would be established in nine district headquarters in addition to the existing ones at Visakhapatnam, Nellore and the proposed one at Kurnool.“The objective is to ensure that cancer patients get timely and affordable treatment,” he said and requested Tata Trusts to partner with them in their endeavour.
“SVICAR will be constructed in two phases with a total outlay of `600 crore. It will have 376 beds, teleradiology, telediagnostics and teletreatment plans. It will be a radiation therapy hub. Bone marrow transplants, advanced cancer research and training for cancer experts will be provided at the institute,” he explained and heaped praise on Tata Trusts for serving the people through its network of 124 hospitals. “With strong national and international tie-ups, it brings the best practices in the world to its hospitals,” Naidu observed and added that Amaravati would become a medical hub with 14 medical colleges and institutions coming up there.
Tata described cancer as a deadly disease that does not differentiate between poor and rich. “Sometime back, it was believed that cancer was not treatable. Now, advanced treatment is available and I hope that it can soon be said that cancer is a curable disease,” he said.