The estimated expenditure for setting up these centres will be Rs 3,200 crore, said Union health ministry officials
New Delhi: The government has started a survey to identify gaps and review the infrastructure in all district hospitals in order to implement the budget announcement of setting up daycare cancer centres in these health facilities over the next three years.
The estimated expenditure for setting up these centres will be Rs 3,200 crore, Union health ministry officials have told PTI.
In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will facilitate setting up daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals over the next three years and 200 of these will be established in 2025-26.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone for the Shree Bagheshwar Medical Sciences and Research Institute, which will include a cancer hospital, at Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. After the foundation stone-laying ceremony, Modi said daycare cancer centres will be opened in all districts of the country in the next three years.
He pointed to the budgetary announcements aimed at fighting cancer and the decision to make cancer medicines cheaper.
“This (daycare cancer centres) will lead to an increase in access to quality cancer care for more people, especially in rural areas. Also, this will reduce the burden on the tertiary-care centres, allowing them to focus on more complex cases, by offering such services at the district level,” an official said.