Raising hopes for a cancer treatment centre coming up in the city, the director of the Regional Cancer Centre(RCC) has submitted a project report to the Health Minister which states the need of a centre in Kochi . Based on the report the government is planning to set up the cancer treatment centre at the premises of Kochi Co-operative Medical College campus.
The Health Department had directed RCC director Dr Paul Sebastian to study the feasibility of setting up a cancer center in Kochi. Following this the director submitted the project report to the Health Minister. Based on the report, the government would utilise the 35 acres at the Kochi Co-operative Medical College campus for setting up the cancer centre.
According to the sources, the proposed cancer treatment centre will not be a part of the medical college. The health department also said that measures would be taken not to lapse the `5 crore allocated for the centre in the last budget.
In the wake of increasing number of cancer patients, the people of Kochi has initiated a campaign for setting up a cancer treatment centre in the city. According to sources, the Finance Ministry has agreed to allocate Rs 5 crore, which is already earmarked in the budget towards setting up of a cancer hospital in central Kerala. There were allegations that indifference on the part of Health Minister has scuttled the move.
Justice V R Krishna Iyer had launched the campaign to force the Government to set up an international cancer research centre-cum-hospital in Kochi for the benefit of all categories of cancer patients.
The delegates of the campaign had pointed out that apart from the RCC in Thiruvananthapuram, the state lacked other specialised cancer care and research facilities.
This was affecting the patients and their relatives from central and northern Kerala who were forced to travel to the state capital and stay there to get expert care. It also suggested that the Kochi Co-operative Medical College, which has 35 acres of land in excess, would be ideal for the centre.