Patna: The radiotherapy department of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) will get state-of-the-art cancer treatment machines worth around Rs 39 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) by 2019. The hospital would be able to provide targeted therapies for cancer treatment with the arrival of the machines.

Head of the radiotherapy department of PMCH, P.N. Pandit, said this during a formal re-launch of radiation therapy at the hospital on Tuesday. Health minister Mangal Pandey did the honours. "Arrival of the machines, including linear accelerator, stimulator, treatment planning system among others under the Central scheme would boost cancer treatment at the hospital," Pandit said. "In the absence of proper infrastructure at the hospital, we were forced to refer cancer patients to other facilities, specially those requiring radiation therapy."

He said the hospital was so far providing only chemotherapy (treatment through drugs) to cancer patients. "The radiation therapy (cancer treatment which uses high dose of radiation to kill cancer cells) was resumed at the hospital on July 9. The only cobalt machine, through which radiation therapy could be availed by cancer patients, was lying unused for around five years because of technical fault in the machine.

The machine was re-started at the hospital on July 9 and two patients were provided radiation therapy that day. On Tuesday) health minister Mangal Pandey formally re-launched services of the same cobalt machine," Pandit said.

Principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar, who was also among the dignitaries, said the hospital would soon be provided brachytherapy machine (another cancer treatment machine worth around RS 3.5 crore).

Pandit said the department had already sanctioned funds for procurement of the machine and that Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (BMSICL) was supposed to install the machine by next month.

PMC principal Ajit Kumar Verma said that with the arrival of brachytherapy machine, post-graduate course in radiotherapy machine can be re-started. "The Medical Council of India (MCI) had earlier de-recognised PG course because of unavailability of this machine in 2008," Verma said. "Since then, the PG course is not running in the radiotherapy department."

Aryabhatta Knowledge University vice-chancellor A.K. Aggarwal and PMCH superintendent Rajiv Ranjan Prasad were also present on the occasion.