Tagore cancer research institute to be built in Patisar

Rabindranath Tagore Cancer Centre and Research Institute will be built in Rabitirtha, the house of Tagore, at Patisar in Naogaon's Atrai upazila.

Prof Dr Hasin Anupama Azhari, general secretary of Alor Bhuban Kallyan Trust, announced it on March 6.

The trust took the decision to set up such an institution in the memorable location of Tagore.

Prof Dr Golam Abu Zakaria, former dean of the University of Cologne in Germany, has been made chairman of the institution.

Besides, Tagore activist researcher M Matiur Rahman Mamun, founder general secretary of Rabindra Shahitya Parishad, and also the president of Kaligram Rathindranath Institution, has been made secretary member of seven-member executive board.

Member of the Parliament Alhaj Anwar Hossain Helal has been made chief advisor of nine-member advisory council.

Cancer Scientist Prof Zakaria said, "Researcher M Matiur Rahman Mamun made the application long years ago. Considering his plea, we have decided to set up the cancer research institute."

According to the World Health Organization, the number of cancer patients in the world will double by 2030. Most of its cancers will be in the third world people.

About 1 lakh and eight thousand people die of cancer in Bangladesh every year. Apart from this, about one and a half million more people are being diagnosed with cancer every year, according to International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Breast cancer is at the top of women's deaths in Bangladesh. Then there is the cervix and throat cancer.

The country is gradually incorporating the latest technology and services in cancer treatment, however, most of it is city-centric.

Sixty percent of infected patients die in just five years. And the number of such deaths due to cancer is increasing as there is no diagnosis at the beginning. Early diagnosis can bring remedies for the patients most of the cases. In this case, there should be proper arrangement for cancer treatment in the rural areas outside the capital.  

Rabindranath Tagore Cancer Centre and Research Institute at Patisar will fix those  problems, according to the cancer scientist.