Guwahati to get India's first public-sector proton therapy centre

Assam has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Belgian company Ion Beam Applications (IBA) to set up a proton beam therapy centre at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), which Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says will be the first such facility in India's public health system.

Sarma announced the agreement on Saturday, putting the cost of the project at Rs 600 crore, PTI and India Today NE reported.

What proton therapy is

Proton beam therapy is a form of radiation treatment for cancer. Conventional radiotherapy uses X-ray beams, which deposit some radiation in healthy tissue on their way through the body. A proton beam can be tuned to release most of its energy at the depth of the tumour, which allows doctors to limit damage to nearby organs.

That matters most for tumours close to sensitive structures such as the brain, spinal cord and eyes, and for children, whose growing tissues are more vulnerable to long-term effects of radiation. Sarma said the precision of the technique could make "a significant difference" for suitable patients, especially children.

Cost, funding and timeline

According to the Chief Minister, proton therapy in India has so far been available only in private hospitals, where a course of treatment can cost up to Rs 50 lakh. He has earlier said that only two centres in the country offer it, a Tata Memorial facility in Mumbai and Apollo in Chennai.

The state cabinet approved the centre in August under the ASSIST project of the Assam Health Infrastructure Development and Management Society. At that time Sarma said the World Bank would lend Rs 315 crore and the state would fund the remaining Rs 285 crore. The money is meant to cover the machine, the building and staff training.

The facility is expected to take at least three years to complete. Sarma said the arrangement had been structured to keep the state's capital spending low so that treatment can be offered at an affordable rate. He also noted that many cancer treatments in Assam are already covered under the Rs 5 lakh health cover of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY. Treatment charges at the new centre have not been announced.

Part of a larger cancer network

Assam has been building a statewide cancer care grid. Sarma said 17 cancer hospitals are being set up across the state, of which 12 are working, and that the state aims to become a "global centre" for cancer care.

He also said patients from Bhutan, Bangladesh, North Bengal and other Northeast states increasingly travel to Assam for treatment, and that the new centre could strengthen Guwahati's position in medical tourism. For patients in the region, the main change would be not having to travel to Mumbai, Chennai or abroad for the therapy.