Tata Trusts and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) have joined hands for the construction of a state-of-the-art cancer centre in this temple town in Andhra Pradesh.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed on Friday by Tata Trusts and TTD, which manages the affairs of Tirumala temple.
Given the rising cancer burden in the region, Tata Trusts has joined hands with TTD to address this concern by bringing affordable cancer care closer home to the people of the region.
The proposed facility will have in and out-patient facilities, diagnostics, therapeutics, rehabilitation and other such support services.
In a phased manner the centre will house operation theatres, linear accelerators for Radiation Oncology, Brachytherapy and a Bone Marrow Transplant unit. The hospital will be constructed on 25 acres of land provided by the TTD, said a statement by Tata Trusts.
The MoU was signed by Sambasiva Rao, Executive Officer, TTD and M R. Venkataramanan, Managing Trustee, Tata Trusts, in the presence of R.K. Krishna Kumar, Trustee, Tata Trusts, and N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons.
Tata Trusts have been working in cancer care for several decades across a spectrum of activities, ranging from the setting up of pioneering institutions such as the Tata Memorial Hospital in 1941 and Tata Medical Center, Kolkata in 2011, to providing medical relief grants to individuals suffering from this dreaded disease.
Recognising the centrality of infrastructure to cancer service delivery and the shortage of the same in the country, the Trusts are in the process of conceiving and setting up or upgrading various super specialty centres across the nation with the objective of decentralising cancer care in the country.
As a member of the National Cancer Grid, a forum of 106 cancer hospitals, Tata Trusts have access to experts across these centres to enable its various cancer initiatives. The Trusts plan to raise funds internally and externally to finance these not-for-profit hospital projects.
"We are grateful to TTD for this partnership. Our aim is to ensure the provision of equitable, affordable, high quality cancer care for the masses. We are positive that this centre will be a landmark institution in this part of the country," said R Venkataramanan.
--IANS
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