In Guwahati, Tata Sons chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran declared that the Tata Group will join hands with Assam government to roll out an elaborate cancer care programme across 15 districts of the state from next year. 

Chandrasekaran said that its proposed healthcare initiative will be spread across 15 districts of the state. 

The proposed infrastructure footprint comprises 17 centres across the state and it will be able to provide much-needed services starting early next year. 

The programme will work in hub-and-spoke model with all the medical colleges acting as the hubs, while the district hospitals will function as diagnosis and day-care centres. 

The official also said that a three-tiered model has been conceived with leading oncologists, which would offer different levels of cancer care ranging from complicated procedures to simple diagnostic tests. 

The model is centered on the use of technology and task shifting to facilitate operations in remote areas, and patient-centric design principles to provide a good in-hospital experience to the patient and care-giver. 

The model will ensure that no patient will have to travel more than a few hours for accessing the full suite of cancer treatment services. 

This 3-tier model will be supported by an extensive awareness, screening and early detection programme at the population level.