Diagnosis to be cheaper at Delhi cancer institute

Cancer diagnosis is going to get cheaper at the Delhi State Cancer Institute (DSCI), which has installed a new PET-CT and gama camera on its 10th anniversary. The Delhi government-run facility will charge Rs 4,000-5,000 per patient for scanning with the new imaging device. The charges for the same test at private hospitals is around Rs 25,000.

According to DSCI director R.K. Grover, the new facility will be available to the patients from next week. “In the coming days, the institute is going to avail the facility of medical cyclotron isotope manufacturing by which we will be able to cut the present cost of PET-CT test and will be able to support 50-60 centres. We have got permission for the tests to be conducted on 60 patients per week, but we are in a process to increase the number of PET-CT machines in future so that maximum number of patients can av-ail the facility by paying less than what they are actually paying outside,” he said.

Apart from providing cheap imaging facilities to cancer patients, the DSCI has become the first government hospital of the national capital to have this facility.

The PET-CT and gama camera was inaugurated by Delhi health minister Satyender Jain.

“It is really a great achievement for the institute to have such cost-effective tests. After the installation of the new machine, I hope the patients will get a better and world-class facility at more affordable rates. The hospital staff has done well to handle 1,000 patien-ts each day,” Mr Jain said.

The DSCI has been established as an independent and autonomous institution by the Delhi government for providing comprehensive management facility with the latest and most advanced techniques available under one roof at par with some of the best such institutions in the country, as well as at the international level, for patients suffering from cancer.