The Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) was June 17 linked with cancer hospitals of the Tatas in Mumbai and Kolkata, enabling doctors here to consult their counterparts in the two cities.

Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today rolled out a platform, 'Digital Nerve Centre (DiNC)', to connect cancer care unit of the GMCH with with the two other hospitals. The two hospitals are Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai and Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata. "With launching of this platform, our doctors will be able to discuss cases of patients with those from the Tata hospitals in Mumbai and Kolkata. In many cases, patients will no longer require to travel outside Assam," Sarma told a press conference after launching the project here.

The state government and Tata Trusts have proposed to develop 19 cancer care centres across the state and those centres would also be connected to this platform, he added. "Patients' record keeping and consultation will be a seamless affair with this technology. It is developed by the TCS and the Tata Trusts has given it to us free of cost. Assam is the first greenfield project for DiNC," Sarma said.

The platform has the potential to connect all the 143 cancer care hospitals under National Cancer Grid in future, the minister said. The Assam government is setting up a 500-bed cancer hospital under the GMCH and it will be the apex centre for cancer treatment, he said. For this, the government is investing Rs 200 crore, of which Rs 180 crore would be given by the Centre, he said adding that this hospital will be known as South East Asian Cancer Research Centre.

Assam government yesterday announced 19 cancer care centres, to be set up across the state in partnership with Tata Trusts at an investment of Rs 1,910 crore by mid-2020. The government will lay the foundation stone of the proposed centres at a function tomorrow. The Assam government and Tata Trusts have formed a non- profitable entity -- Assam Cancer Care Foundation (ACCF) -- with equal partnership to implement the project and manage the centres, Sarma had said on June 16.