Tirupati set to become hub for cancer care

Tirupati : In a major step towards establishing a single-stop cancer care for patients, the foundation stone was laid for the Rs 124-cr building of Sri Balaji Institute of Oncology (SBIO) at SVIMS on Thursday.

TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy, who performed Bhumi Puja for the key bunker block, said the SBIO will be built by the TTD in which modern equipment and facilities worth Rs 200 crore will be set up and the building will be completed by the end of this year. It will have 400 beds and will have seven floors with a total built-up area of around 3,00,000 square feet.

“CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s intention was to see that cancer prevalence should come down in the state. For this, more screening camps will be held to diagnose the disease early,”, he maintained.

While the Pink Bus of SVIMS has been engaged in screening camps in Tirupati, Chittoor and Kadapa districts, two more such buses are coming up to conduct more such camps. The idea was to allot one Pink Bus for each district as early screening is vital to cure the disease, he said.

MP Dr M Gurumoorthy, TTD board member Pokala Ashok Kumar, JEO Sada Bhargavi, CV&SO Narasimha Kishore, SVIMS Director cum VC Dr B Vengamma, SBIO special officer Dr M Jayachandra Reddy, medical superintendent Dr Ram, Registrar Dr Aparna Bitla and RMO Dr Koti Reddy participated.

Meanwhile, SBIO is in line with the government’s initiative towards setting up of three regional cancer centres in the state at Tirupati, Guntur and Visakhapatnam. State government advisor for cancer care Dr Nori Dattatreyudu visited SVIMS on several occasions recently and gave directions for the setting up of the new institute.

As per the proposals, once completed, SBIO can offer several advanced procedures like cyber knife and intra operative radiotherapy in radiation oncology department while bone marrow transplantation unit under medical oncology wing. Similarly, robotic surgery equipment may come up for the surgical oncology department. Palliative care is also expected to come up besides expanding the outreach activities.

Tirupati also has another cancer treatment facility, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Cancer Care & Advanced Research which is supported by the Tata Trusts and engaged in even various outreach activities. These two institutes together are expected to go a long way in diagnosing and treatment of cancer in the region, making the city a destination for cancer patients.