Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today urged the Centre to accord the status of "Centre of Excellence" to the Cancer Institute at Adyar here, an non-governmental institution, to enable its expansion to treat more patients.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said a proposal for upgradation of the centre as a National Centre pending with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare be approved to enable it expand and strengthen its capacity to treat cancer patients in larger numbers.
"Considering the excellent service rendered by this Institution for over three decades, even while functioning as an NGO, I consider that its status should no more be that of a Tertiary Cancer Institute, but requires to be elevated to the status of a Centre of Excellence - an Autonomous National Cancer Research Institute", Jayalalithaa said.
She said that the union government has so far provided meagre support to this Institute through the Tertiary Cancer Centre Scheme by way of a grant of Rs 4.80 crore for equipment purchased in 2011/12. The state government released Rs 1.20 crore as its share for this.
The institute, set up in 1954, should be conferred with National Status as a "Centre of Excellence", particularly when it has been rated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the "Top Ranking Centre" in the country, she said.