The National Cancer Institute (NCI) being built in Jhajjar, Haryana, is set to begin operations in September. The centre, which comes under the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), will be the nodal institution in the country for all activities related to cancer care, prevention and treatment.
The one-of-its-kind institute will have links with regional cancer centres and institutions in the country and “evolve model cancer-control programmes and new therapies for the developing world”. Spread over 50 acre, the institute is expected to take some patient load off the overburdened Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, AIIMS, Delhi. Besides over 700 beds for cancer patients, NCI will engage in research and development of novel interventions to prevent and treat cancer.
Prof. G. K. Rath, who will head NCI, said: “Besides allopathic therapies, NCI will explore alternative therapies from medicine systems historically available in India. It will act as an apex centre for resources in cancer.”
The proposal for the institute was approved by the Centre in 2013. Around 50 acre was acquired for the project in Jhajjar in 2014, and construction of the institute and residential complex began in 2015. Once operational, NCI will have 26 operation theatres, 15 laboratories for principal investigators, a separate diagnostics block and an affordable quality tertiary cancer care centre. It will collaborate with cancer institutes in the U.S., France and the U.K. and will be a pioneer in the field of translational research, he added.
NCI will employ 3,500 trained individuals, and undertake clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines to treat cancer patients and improve survival rates and quality of life of patients. “It will incorporate newly developed techniques in cancer therapy into clinical practice,” he said.
“The centre will set standards for cancer treatment and evolve, update and disseminate evidence-based guidelines to promote uniform cancer patient care across the country and facilitate development of affordable medicines and equipment.”
Data from the National Cancer Registry Programme of the Indian Council of Medical Research show that around 3.9 million cancer cases were reported in India in 2016.
