The State government has sanctioned nearly ₹110 crore to strengthen cancer diagnosis and treatment services over the next three years in 17 government institutions. These include five regional cancer hospitals and research centres, and 12 tertiary care cancer centres across Tamil Nadu.
This follows an announcement in the Assembly to improve medical equipment and increase manpower in secondary and medical college hospitals, with a focus on early detection of cancer through advanced diagnostic methods.
According to a government order, the Directorate of Medical Education has stated that Tamil Nadu is witnessing a significant rise in the cancer cases. This growing burden is likely to place considerable pressure on the State’s healthcare system. To address this, the government has proposed to strengthen the diagnostic and treatment services in five regional cancer hospitals.
A total of Rs. 110.96 has been sanctioned: ₹73.96 crore for 2025-2026, ₹ 19.6 crore for 2026-2027 and ₹ 17.4 crore for 2027-2028.
The five regional centres are the Institute of Non-Communicable Diseases, Government Royapettah Hospital, government medical college hospitals in Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai. The 12 tertiary centres include Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital, Omandurar Estate, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Government Hospital for Women and Children and government medical college hospitals at Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai and Dharmapuri.
As a part of this initiative, the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation will procure the necessary medical equipment. The proposed list includes modular operating theatres for surgical oncology and radio frequency ablation machines for pain palliation and CT simulators.
Published – July 16, 2025 12:26 am IST
