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PM Modi inaugurates Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Punjab’s Mohali
Prime Minister says health a priority for his government that has done more for the sector in the past eight years than was done in 70 years
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday dedicated the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre to the nation in Punjab’s Mohali district, in an endeavour to provide world-class cancer care to the residents of Punjab and neighbouring states and Union Territories.
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Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann felicitated Modi at the inauguration of the hospital that will function like a hub of cancer care and treatment in the region, with the 100-bed hospital in Sangrur as a spoke.
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 surgery, radiotherapy and medical oncology, comprising chemotherapy, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplant.
In his speech on the occasion, Modi said his government’s thrust was on creating a healthcare system that would cater to the poorest of the poor. “The health sector has been our priority. The work our government has done for the health sector in the past eight years was not done in 70 years,” he said.
“Our government has decided to open around 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres. In Punjab, 3,000 health and wellness centres are giving their services. Our government is making efforts to open one medical college in each district of the country. We have set up 40 cancer hospitals and most of them have already started functioning. Before 2014, there were less then 400 medical colleges, while in eight years, around 200 new medical colleges have been set up,” Modi said.
He said 3.5 crore people have got treatment under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme and added that treatment worth ₹40,000 crore has been done under this scheme.
He said from just seven All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, India is now home to 21 AIIMS. “This is an example of our government’s commitment to providing quality healthcare,” he said, adding “We have established over 40 institutions in the country that are working on cancer research.”
He listed six morchas to upgrade the health sector in the country and said the Centre is spending thousands of crores on them to give impetus to preventive healthcare. Small and modern hospitals would be opened at the village level and medical colleges and big institutes of research would be set up in cities besides increasing the number of doctors and paramedical staff.
Earlier, in his address, Mann regretted the cancellation of the PM’s visit to Ferozepur due to a security breach on January 5 during the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government’s tenure.
Modi arrived in Chandigarh after inaugurating the Amrita Hospital in Faridabad, Haryana, with an aim to boost the availability of modern medical infrastructure in the National Capital Region (NCR). Managed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math, the super-speciality hospital will be equipped with 2,600 beds.
