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Cancer therapy at Acharya Harihar Centre now 50% less

Now patients will get high-end radiotherapy treatment at Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre at less than 50 per cent of what it costs at private hospitals in Odisha.

The only state-run cancer hospital in Odisha will install two linear accelerators, an advanced device used in cancer treatment, by the first week of October.

The devices identify the damaged cells and apply radiotherapy properly to kill cancer cells without destroying the healthy ones, said a cancer expert.

Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre is a cancer care hospital in Cuttack, Odisha. It is one of the 25 recognized Regional Cancer Centres in India. Founded in 2 February 1981 as the Radiotherapy Department of the SCB Medical College in Cuttack, it was converted into an autonomous body on 24 April 1984.

Director of the institute Sushil Kumar Giri said: “The aim is to provide a state-of-the-art facility at the centre and make it affordable for the common man. Once it is installed, patients can avail themselves of the service at less than 50 per cent of what it costs at private hospitals.”

The two private hospitals in the city that have linear accelerators charge nearly Rs 4,000 for each session of radiotherapy, and a cancer patient needs 25 to 30 sessions on an average. All patients fail to afford the cost, and for them, the state-run facility will prove to be a boon.

The 240-bed hospital at the centre caters to patients not only from the state, but also from Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre

On an average, the hospital attends to almost 20,000 to 26,000 cancer patients every year. Among them, nearly 10,000 require indoor admissions, and around 20 to 25 per cent of them need radiotherapy.

At present, the centre provides radiotherapy with cobalt machines, but it is not as effective as linear accelerators, sources said.

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