Appeal to upgrade proposed cancer hospital in Dibrugarh

A Correspondent

Dibrugarh, May 28: The recent announcement of the State Health Department to set up 19 cancer hospitals in the State, including one in Dibrugarh, has been welcomed by the people here, albeit not whole-heartedly. The decision to set up such a hospital of Level 1 in Guwahati, while reducing it to Level 2 for Dibrugarh, has not gone down well with many residents of the place. A noted advocate named Gonesh Gohain Phukan has written a letter to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, requesting him to consider upgrading the proposed hospital at Dibrugarh to Level 1. He, in his letter, questioned as to why Guwahati, despite having several reputed cancer hospitals, was chosen for a Level 1 hospital, and not Dibrugarh, given that the Upper Assam town did not have a single cancer hospital.

Furthermore, the number of people suffering from cancer was one of the highest in Upper Assam, he added in the letter. Similar request has also been made by the Dibrugarh Press Club. The disappointment has surfaced as the people of the district had long been demanding a specialized cancer institute, and the present decision fell short of their expectations.