Tripura to get eight cancer screening centres soon

The Tripura government will soonoperationalise eight cancer screening centres across the statefor early detection of the disease, an official said onFriday.

Six such units will be set up at medical facilities inAgartala, Dharmanagar, Dhalai, Udaipur, Kumarghat andJolaibari, and location for two more centres has not beenfinalised as of now, he said.

An expert team has been formed to oversee operationsof these proposed facilities.

Another team of health professionals was constitutedto conduct a household survey across all the eight districtsof the state to collect data of high-risk persons, he said.

The government has installed a PET-CT scan machine atAtal Behari Vajpayee Regional Cancer Centre here at a costof Rs 15 crore, and 16 patients have already been examinedusing the instrument, the official said.

The government has also appointed two surgeons - DrAsish Kumar Gupta from Delhi and Dr Preetesh Rajib Singh fromMumbai - at the medical facility.

Tripura now has 60-70 cancer patients for every 1 lakhpeople as against the national average of 100, he added.