Announcing this here today in his capacity as Chairman, Board of Directors of Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that, with the new arrangement coming into force from today, the Guwahati Cancer Centre will be an Aided Institute of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India and will be under the management control of Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Mumbai which would provide healthcare and academic facilities on the same pattern and of the same standard as currently available in the Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Mumbai.

A tripartite MoU to this effect was signed on behalf of the North-Eastern Council (NEC), Department of Atomic Energy and Government of Assam, in presence of Dr Jitendra Singh, Director, Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Mumbai Dr R.A. Badwe and Director, Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Dr A.C. Kataki. Secretary NEC, Shri Ram Muivah and representatives from the Union Health Ministry as well as Government of Assam were also present on the occasion.

Briefing the media about this landmark decision, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute at Guwahati was established in 1973 and he was glad to note that over 43 years later, we have accomplished in achieving a breakthrough which should have happened much earlier. He complimented officers in the Department of Atomic Energy, the management of Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer, Mumbai, the Union Ministry of Health and the State Government of Assam for their cooperation in fast-tracking the procedures during the last few months so that we could begin the new year of 2017 with a new resolve and a new hope for patients of cancer.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, with today’s initiation, Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute has moved ahead in the direction of becoming one of the top Cancer Care and Cancer teaching hospitals in India, which would be possibly the first of its kind in the eastern part of the country. Considering high prevalence of cancer, particularly the cancer of head and neck and naso-pharynx in this part of the country, he said, this will prove to be a great boon for the entire region, thus offering cost-effective management and absolute cure for many of the cancers without having to go elsewhere to distant places for treatment.

From 2016, Dr Jitendra Singh said, super-specialization in Cancer Surgery, MCh (Oncology), has already started in the Guwahati Institute and shortly, super-specialization in Cancer Medicine, DM (Oncology), will also begin. With over 10,000 new cases of cancer reporting every year in Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, he said, the time has come to supplement the faculty services and infrastructure in this premier institution.

Dr Jitendra Singh also appreciated the various community awareness programmes undertaken by Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute and suggested that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will be approached to prepare brief radio jingles and short TV clippings for cancer education amongst the public. He also congratulated the faculty of the Institute for their accomplishments and referred to some of their published papers which were now part of reference material for other researchers.