GUNTUR: Due to a spike in the number of cancer cases, NATCO Cancer Centre in Guntur has decided to add 40 more beds to the existing 110 to treat more patients. In the recent past, the facility has become a one-stop solution for free cancer treatment.
With state-of-the-art infrastructure, the cancer centre is located on the premises of Guntur Government General Hospital (GGH) which is spread across 1.6 acres. Currently, there are as many as 110 beds available in the hospital, besides ICU and 10 outpatient wards, operation theatres as well as a comprehensive lab and a conference hall that was constructed at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
Over the past two years, NATCO has expanded its services and now provides radiation, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy, including medical and surgical oncology. Around 25 oncology professors, assistants and junior doctors, have been extending super-speciality treatment to the patients.
The institution is equipped with modern medical apparatus, including Varian Vitalbeam Linear Accelerator worth Rs 12 crore, Brachytherapy and CT simulator worth Rs 5 crore, for treating cancer patients. In the near future, the hospital is planning to set up a mammography machine worth Rs 2 crore. In 2021, ultra-modern operation theatres were established and as many as 184 surgeries were conducted successfully.
In the past two years, over 17,000 patients who could not afford treatment at private hospitals availed of free treatment at the cancer centre.NATCO Coordinator Ashok Kumar said all services, including diagnosis, medical tests, therapies, and medicines are available free of cost.
“After inaugurating NATCO in 2020, the number of in and outpatients have increased. Several people from East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, and Nellore districts visit the hospital for treatment,” he pointed explained. Further, NATCO Trust has been providing free medicines worth Rs 1 crore to patients every year, Kumar mentioned.