The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has cleared a project worth nearly Tk 24 billion in order to set up 100-bed fully functional cancer centres in each government medical college hospitals in all the eight divisional cities.
The project was approved on Tuesday (Sept 17) during 6th ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year presided by ECNEC chief and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, reports BSS.
Planning Minister MA Mannan said that the Directorate General of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will implement the project from October 2019 to September 2022.
According to the recent estimation of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), around 150,000 people are infected with cancer every year in Bangladesh while 108,000 people die of cancer every year and the rate is increasing every year.
The main objectives of the project objectives include detecting cancer at the very early stage and thus ensure proper treatment, bringing the marginalized people under cancer treatment through decentralization of the treatment facilities.
The main project operations include constructing 17-storey buildings in all divisional medical college hospitals involving Tk 14.06 billion, procuring cancer treatment and surgery equipments with Tk 8.88 billion, and procuring necessary vehicles, ambulance and furniture.
The planning minister, while speaking to the media said that a total of 8 projects were approved during the meeting involving an overall cost of Tk 89.68 billion.
“Of the total project cost, Tk 89.53 billion will come from the state exchequer while the rest of Tk 154.9 million from project assistance.”
Out of the approved eight projects, five are new while three are revised projects.