Patnaik in his letter said that although the state has a good number of public and private hospitals along with a branch of AIIMS catering to the needs of people of Odisha and neighbouring states; it lacks an advanced cancer hospital and research centre in the public sector.
Citing that the Department of Atomic Energy is extending grant-in-aid for setting up Tata Memorial Centres at various locations in the country, Patnaik highlighted that Odisha will be immensely benefited if the Centre could set up such a centre at Bhubaneswar.
“In view of the emerging role of Odisha in providing medical care, it would be helpful to have a hub of the Tata Memorial Centre in Odisha. This will be of invaluable service to the poor patients of Odisha as well as of neighbouring states,” Patnaik wrote.
Besides, the CM also assured to extend all necessary support from the State government for the purpose.
The State government had recently extended free cancer treatment to 13 district headquarters hospitals including Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar and the government hospital in Rourkela. Presently, Cuttack-based Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre is the only cancer speciality hospital in the state.
A Mumbai-based NGO, Jagannath Cancer Aid Foundation (JACAF), took initiative and facilitated Prahlad's treatment at the premier cancer institute after getting to know of Prahlad’s condition. However, the Odisha Health Department, also promised to bear the medical expense of the boy from Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
Though His condition is stated to be critical, doctors at Tata Memorial hospital alleged that negligence in his treatment in Odisha, aggravated the situation. "He was brought late to Mumbai. Had he received treatment earlier, his condition would have been better," said doctor PK Mohanty of JACAF.
The request came few days after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the Prime Minister to set up a hub of Tata Memorial Centre here.
Pradhan informed Modi that the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, which is under the administrative control of Department of Atomic Energy, has submitted a proposal for providing budgetary allocation for the establishment of a hub of Tata Memorial Centre in its campus.
The Department of Atomic Energy gives grant-in-aid and manages the Tata Memorial Centre.
"The proposed hub will provide affordable care for cancer patients of the state and will also initiate and lead an advanced research in this field of research as well as complex biological system," he said, adding that the centre will be equivalent to the ones planned at Chandigarh and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
He said that a lot of patients from Odisha and neighbouring states, who visit Tata Memorial Centre at Mumbai, face problem due to long waiting period and expensive cost of living at Mumbai.
The proposed hub would serve the cancer patients of Odisha and neighbouring states, he added.