Guwahati, April 27: Dr B. Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, has introduced a two-year postgraduate fellowship for various branches of oncology from this year.
"BBCI hopes that the fellowship will fulfil the manpower requirement in the field of oncology in the Northeast. It is ready to render all possible help to the northeastern states for capacity development in oncology," said a source.
"Many oncology centres are expected to come up in the Northeast in the next few years and these academic programmes will give job opportunities to young aspirants in this field," the source added.
According to BBCI, 36,221 new cancer cases are detected every year in the Northeast. The number of cancer patients in Assam is estimated to be 27,427. About 10,566 patients reported to the BBCI in 2014-15.
In spite of high prevalence of the disease, treatment facilities are limited in the Northeast.
Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh do not have any cancer treatment facilities at present.
According to World Health Organisation, one teletherapy machine is required per 10 lakh population. Therefore, altogether 45 machines are needed for the entire Northeast where the total population is 4.57 crore according to the 2011 census.
At present, there are only 15 teletherapy machines in the region, of which Assam has nine. For the 3.1 crore population of Assam, at least 30 such machines are required.
The BBCI has observed that the Northeast faces acute shortage of trained doctors and paramedical staff in the field of oncology. Keeping this in mind, the institute started various academic courses in addition to short-term training programmes for doctors and paramedics in the past 10 years.
At present, 63 students are pursuing academic courses in various disciplines at the BBCI. So far, 43 students from the Northeast have completed academic courses related to oncology. These students have been recruited in various medical institutions across the region.
The BBCI started a course of doctor of medicine (MD) in radiotherapy in 2013. The institute introduced a three-year MSc in radiological physics in collaboration with Gauhati University in 2012. Its two-year post-graduate diploma programme in radiotherapy technology and radiotherapy technician programme as well as MSc in radiological physics are recognised by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) of the Centre.
