Colombo to get new Cancer Unit

Colombo: President Mahinda Rajapaksa will ceremonially open the new Rs.750 million Cancer Unit, a Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry spokesman said.

'The unit will help cancer patients who are now treated with radio therapy and Cobalt machines and are sometimes prone to tissue damage.

The latest type of treatment will protect other parts of the body when treating cancer with radio therapy,' the Healthcare Ministry spokesman said. Around 60 cancer patients can be treated per day using this latest machine.

The Government will spend Rs. 3 million per year to maintain this new machine.

15,000 new cancer patients seek treatment at the Maharagama Cancer Hospital annually and 60 percent of them are females.

About 100 child cancer patients seek treatment annually and 700 cancer patients seek treatment from different clinics of this hospital daily. There are 850 in-house cancer patients in the Maharamga Cancer Hospital at present.