Jamshedpur, Aug 6: A cancer hospital that will be constructed and operated by US-based doctors and experts is in the pipeline.

The first of its kind in the state, the hospital will provide facilities of diagnosis, surgery, radio and chemotherapy under one roof, unlike some of the smaller centres in Bihar and Jharkhand.

The estimated cost of the project is about Rs 50 crore. The agreement for the 300-bed cancer hospital was signed between the government and Cancer Care Corporation, following chief minister Arjun Munda’s recent visit to US.

The hospital will be equipped with the most advanced equipment for diagnosis and treatment of the disease,” health secretary Shivendu said.

Once the site selection is completed, the government will help them in setting up the project.

Officials in the department said that the proposed hospital would cater not only to patients from Jharkhand but also Bihar and districts of West Bengal.

At present there are only two small cancer hospitals in Jamshedpur and Patna. It is expected that most of the patients suffering from oral and breast cancer, a disease which is widely spread in the adjoining states due to chewing tobacco, will get diagnosed and treated here.

State president of Indian Medical Association Ajay Kumar Singh welcomed this step.

However he warned:“The government should not allow the project to get shelved as happens in most of the cases.”