Nonglhlaw (Meghalaya), July 31: Health, education and employment were the three priority sectors of the state government, Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang has said while announcing his administration was in touch with a Delhi institute to set up a cancer diagnostic centre in the state.
Lapang, who returned from Delhi after holding talks with Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre (RGCIRC) there, told a gathering yesterday that cancer specialists would be brought here from outside on "contract basis" till the state has its own resource persons in this field.
The Chief Minister, who earlier inaugurated a 100-bed community health centre here, about 60 km from Shillong, announced a family contributed Rs 50 lakh for setting up of the proposed cancer treatment centre at the state capital.
The government decided to set up the centre to treat a "large number" of cancer patients in the state dying every year. Recently sitting MLA T H Rangad also became its victim, he rued.
During his visit to Delhi, Lapang had impressed upon the RGCIRC to train doctors from Meghalaya for setting up the centre here and obtained an assurance that patients from the state would get admission and treatment there on priority basis.



Health minister B G Momin said in yesterday's programme that government was able to treat 6.10 lakh outdoor and 51,000 indoor patients of various diseases in all the state-run health centres last year.



The state has now a strength of 450 general physicians against a requirement of 600, Momin said adding there were only 1200 nurses available against a need of 3000.


Bureau Report