The Jharkhand government is planning to introduce cancer day-care and radiation therapy services at six government hospitals across the state, aiming to improve access to treatment and reduce the need for patients to travel to distant cities.
The proposed facilities will be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model at the state’s five medical colleges and the district headquarters hospital in Ranchi. A detailed proposal for the initiative is expected to be prepared soon.
The plan was discussed during a high-level meeting chaired by Health Department Additional Chief Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh on Friday. Officials stressed the need to make cancer treatment more accessible at the district level so that patients can receive essential care closer to home.
The meeting also examined the requirement for modern linear accelerators (LINACs) for radiation therapy. Officials noted that establishing radiation services would require not only advanced equipment but also trained radiation specialists, technicians and medical physicists.
The shortage of medical physicists in the state was identified as a key challenge. Under the proposed PPP arrangement, the government is considering mechanisms to ensure the availability of both specialised equipment and qualified technical personnel at the new centres.
The six proposed facilities are expected to be organised into two groups. Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Dumka would form one group, while Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Palamu would constitute the second.
The centres are planned to provide radiation therapy along with essential cancer day-care services, expanding treatment options across different parts of the state.
A central Control and Command Centre is also proposed at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi to monitor the functioning of the cancer day-care centres.
The government aims to strengthen cancer-care infrastructure across Jharkhand and ensure that patients can access necessary treatment closer to their districts, thereby reducing the burden of long-distance travel.
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