PM Modi to inaugurate cancer hospital at Mullanpur in Mohali on Wednesday

                Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre to the nation at Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, in Punjab.

The hospital has been built by the Union Government at a cost of over Rs 660 crore. The cancer hospital is a tertiary care hospital of 300-bed capacity and is equipped with modern facilities to treat all 
types of cancers using every available treatment modalities like surgery, radiotherapy and medical oncology - chemotherapy, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplant.

This project is significant since there have been numerous reports of increasing cancer prevalence in parts of Punjab and people are forced to go to other states for affordable cancer treatment. This issue 
was so rampant that a train from Bathinda carrying cancer patients to Bikaner was known as a cancer train.

The hospital in New Chandigarh will act as a hub of cancer care. A 100-bedded cancer hospital by GoI is functional since 2018 in Sangrur, which will now act as a spoke of this hospital. It will also help 
patients from neighbouring states

Cancer treatment made affordable  

Treatment of cancer under the Ayushman Bharat has been one of the prime focus areas to safeguard the beneficiaries from catastrophic expenditure of cancer treatment. Health insurance cover of Rs 5 
lakh per family per year is provided for secondary or tertiary care hospitalisation. Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy packages, along with surgical oncology are covered as part of cancer treatment in the 
empanelled hospitals under the scheme. A total of 435 procedures have been defined for the treatment of cancer.

Significant focus on oncology in its various aspects has been ensured in the new AIIMS that are being established under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). Cancer care 
facilities are also being established in other medical colleges under PMSSY.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers, put out a list of 390 anti-cancer non-scheduled medicines with MRP reduction up to 87% in 2019.

The functional Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) have done more than 10.33 crore screenings for oral cancer, more than 3.41 crore screenings for cervical cancer in women and 
more than 5.06 crore screenings for breast cancer in women. (As on April, 2022).

Source: The Tribune