A total of 54 per cent construction works of the 15-storied Chattagram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) cancer unit has been completed so far.
Project Director (PD) of the hospital Rahul Guha on Monday told BSS that the construction works up to the 7th floor will be completed at the beginning of next year and the cancer treatment will be started only after that.
The construction work of this unit is progressing as per schedule, he added.
The 15-storey building, constructed at a cost of TK 2,388.29 crore will have a 180-bedded cancer unit on the second to seventh floors, the PD said.
The PD said there will be a 165-bed kidney dialysis ward on the eighth to eleventh floors and a 115-bed cardiac ward on the 12th to 15th floors. All modern facilities will be available there.
The construction of the building has been implemented by National Development Engineers Limited and Delta Engineers and Consortium Limited.
The duration of the project was from July 2019 to June 2022 but the period has been extended up to June 2024.
“Due to the huge number of patients, it is very difficult to provide treatment in a confined space. It will be possible to increase the scope of services if there is a full-fledged cancer unit,” a health expert in Chattogram opined.
CMCH Director Brigadier General Shamim Ahsan told BSS that the cancer is an expensive treatment. CMCH has a cancer ward but it is inadequate compared to the requirements. It is very difficult to provide treatment in a confined space now. He hoped that the cancer unit could be started by June 2024.
Concerned sources said cancer patients have been increasing at an alarming rate every year. Although the number of patients increased, the treatment opportunities are not being increased at the same rate. Although the CMCH and Chattogram Mother and Child Hospital have separate cancer wards the treatment facilities have not expanded much, he added.
It is known that the government has taken this project to set up one hundred beded cancer units in medical college hospitals of eight divisional cities including Chittagong. The DPP (Development Project Proposal) of the project was approved by ECNEC in 2019. The Public Works Department has been implementing the project.
