Modi launches cancer hospital, terms health care a priority

“The country had around 400 medical colleges when our government took over. In the past seven-eight years we have added 200 hospitals. From just 7 All India Medical Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), India is now home to 21 AIIMS,” said Modi in his public address after inaugurating Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre situated in Mullanpur of Punjab’s SAS Nagar district.

Holistic health care has become a top priority in the country in the past eight years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday while inaugurating a hospital in Punjab, adding that what his government did in this period in the health sector was not done in the past 70 years.

Holistic health care has become a top priority in the country in the past eight years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday while inaugurating a hospital in Punjab, adding that what his government did in this period in the health sector was not done in the past 70 years. (Ajay Sharma)

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Amrita Hospital in Faridabad. Managed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math, the super-speciality hospital in Faridabad will be equipped with 2600 beds. The hospital, which is being constructed at an estimated cost of around ₹6000 crore, will provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities to the people of Faridabad and the entire NCR region.

“The country had around 400 medical colleges when our government took over. In the past seven-eight years we have added 200 hospitals. From just 7 All India Medical Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), India is now home to 21 AIIMS,” said Modi in his public address after inaugurating Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre situated in Mullanpur of Punjab’s SAS Nagar district. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was also present during the inauguration, along with governor B L Purohit, Union minister Jitendra Singh and Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari.

Modi said his government’s focus was on creating a health care system that catered to the poorest- of- the-poor.

“There was a time when if a serious ailment struck a poor person, he had to sell his entire properties and land to get the treatment. Our government has given thrust on several such aspects to provide health care for the poor at doorstep and at cheap rates. Under our flagship scheme Aayushman Bharat, 3.5 crore people have got the treatment which has saved them around ₹40,000 Crore,” said Modi .

He said the Centre also plans to open 150,000 health and wellness centres across the country and 125,000 centres had already started working.

“In Punjab, 3,000 health and wellness centres are giving services. In the entire country, around 22 crore people have been screened for Cancer and out of which around 60 lakh screenings were done only in Punjab,” said Modi.

Mann welcomed PM Modi and said due to the failure of previous governments, some law and order issues were initially faced by the state government but now things were completely under control. “Unfortunately, you also had to cancel your programme in Ferozepur on January 5 which was a matter of regret for all of us. But today the same Punjab is welcoming you wholeheartedly. You are the Prime Minister of the country,” said Mann. He was referring to January 5 incident when the Prime Minister’s convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur. After that Modi returned without attending any event, including a rally. Later, the Supreme Court had even appointed a five-member committee to probe the alleged security breach.

Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre is a 300-bed facility equipped with facilities such as MRI, mammography, digital radiography and brachytherapy to treat all types of cancer using available treatment modalities like surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and bone marrow transplant.

The hospital will act as a tertiary care centre to patients not only from Punjab but also from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.

Modireiterated that his government was working to open one medical college in every district of the country.

Modi said his government was working on six pillars to ensure health facilities are provided to the needy and the poor. “These six are preventive health care, setting up of small and big hospitals in rural areas, establishing medical colleges in cities, increasing the number of paramedicals and doctors, introducing new technologies and ensuring availability of cheap medicines. We invested a record thousands of crores,” said the Prime Minister.

Modi said his government was giving importance to preventive health care. Only a few days back, a report came in which it is said that due to our programme ‘Jal Jeevan Mission’, a decrease in water-borne disease has been witnessed in the country,” said the Prime Minister. Jal Jeevan Mission is a programme envisioned to provide safe drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.

“This shows when we work with a plan to prevent diseases, we get good results. Earlier, governments have ignored the preventive aspects,” said Modi.

About cancer, Modi said his government sanctioned around 40 hospitals to treat the disease and most of them had started providing treatment. “Good health care does not mean building four walls only. Providing doctors and paramedics in the hospitals are equally important than opening new hospitals,” he said.

The 300-bed hospital has been built in Mohali’s Mullanpur at a cost of over ₹660 crore by Tata Memorial Centre, an aided institute under the Union Department of Atomic Energy.

The PM also attended a meeting of the Punjab BJP leaders for around 20 minutes before taking off from the site.

Thanking Modi for giving Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research centre as a gift to the state, Mann said that it will help the state, especially Malwa region, in combating cancer effectively.

“In common parlance the Punjabis are even afraid of taking the name of cancer as its treatment is too costly. But this centre will go a long way in ensuring accessible and affordable cancer treatment to region” said the chief minister.

Mann said that the newly set up centre at new Chandigarh will be a milestone in providing quality cancer treatment not only to patients from Punjab but to neighbouring states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. Terming Punjab as the finest gem in the ring of country, the CM said strenuous efforts were being made to restore the glory of the state.

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