Two medical colleges in Kerala to be upgraded: Azad

Two medical colleges in Kerala would be upgraded as super speciality hospitals and Kochi and Kozhikode would get tertiary cancer centres, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

T D Medical college in Alappuzha and the Kozhikode Medical College are among the 39 medical colleges in the country which are being upgraded, he told reporters here.

The two colleges would be upgraded at a cost of Rs 150 crore out of which Rs 120 crore each would be Centre's share and Rs 30 crore will be borne by the share. For the tertiary cancer centres, central assistance will be of Rs 45 crore each.

The Regional Cancer Centre at Thiruvananthapuram will be upgraded as State Cancer Institute and Rs 120 crore assistance has been approved. Azad said Rs 5200 crore had been approved by the Union government for setting up a National Cancer Institute at New Delhi, foundation of which was laid by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on January 3.

Twenty cancer institutes and 50 tertiary cancer care centres would come up in different parts of the country of which two would be in Kerala.

Earlier, speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Alapuzha Medical College, Azad said the proposed upgrade of the college will ensure the much needed advanced healthcare infrastructure to the district and will also help serve the predominant agrarian and fishermen communities.

He said Rs 66 crore had been spent to install many new facilities which include two blocks with 400 beds for in-patient treatment, sick newborn care unit and other infrastructure. Azad also laid the foundation stone for putting up various infrastructure costing Rs 57 crore, which includes a trauma care unit.

Bahuguna demands Central Medical College for Uttarakhand:

The Uttarakhand government has demanded setting up of a Central Medical College in the hill state for strengthening health services and medical education.

The request was made by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna when he met Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad in Delhi yesterday, official sources said. The Health Minister has given a positive response to the request, they said quoting the CM.

PTI