Jhajjar (Haryana): Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who on Saturday laid the foundation stone of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) here, said the institution will be a boon for the patients suffering from cancer in the country.


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NCI will be the nodal institution for all activities related to cancer in the country and will have linkages with all regional and other cancer centres within the country. Equipped with cutting edge technology, the premier institution will have 26 operation theatres, five linear accelerators, four PET scanners, three Brachy-therapy, three CT scanners, two MRI scanners and other facilities.


"There are approximately 30 lakh cases of cancer in India out of which nearly 6 lakh patients die each year while about 11.5 lakh new cases occur every year. This calls for an urgent need to understand the various causes of cancer specific to our country, and to our lifestyle - which is why this National Cancer Institute is being built on priority," said Nadda at the ceremony.


Earlier the hospital was being operated from a building at the outskirts of Jhajjar with a bed strength of 18 beds which later expanded to 182 beds and catered to over one lakh cancer patients every year.


According to World Health Organization, cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for approximately 7.6 million deaths.


Nadda said the institute will be modeled after the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of US and the Indian government has already entered into a MoU with it during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to US in October 2014.


The total cost for establishment of NCI will be approximately Rs.2,035 crore and it will be completed in next three years. The institute will have 710 beds out of which 200 beds will be dedicated for translational research in India specific cancers. There will be 372 units of flats and 1, 080 hostel rooms for the staff members.


For the patient's attendants, a night shelter having a capacity of 800 units is also being planned.


The minister also announced that apart from NCI, the institution will also have several centers for research and innovation in areas like genomics and proteomics, bioinformatics and health informatics, stem cell and regenerative science and nano biomedicine.