KOCHI: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the construction of the Rs 380 crore worth Cochin Cancer Research Centre CCRC ) building will be over by 2020.Speaking at the foundation stone laying function of the CCRC at Kalamassery on Sunday, the chief minister said that there is a need for comprehensive studies on the reasons of cancer and why the number of cancer patients go up every year.He said that the people from the region would be benefit from the CCRC. Change in the lifestyle and food habits seem to have led to increase in number of cancer cases. He said that eating out also causes diseases and the departments have been given instruction to boost inspection in eateries to check food adulteration.The CCRC will have a capacity for 400 inpatients (IP) and 800 outpatients (OP) when it would be opening in 2020. The government has sanctioned Rs 385 crore from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for the construction of CCRC, health minister K K Shailaja said.Of this, Rs 225 crore is for infrastructure while Rs 160 crore would be used for procuring machinery and furniture, she said. The main building will be six storeyed with a built-up area more than five lakh sq ft. The structure would house departments like paediatric oncology, community oncology, telemedicine and yoga and integrated medicine, cancer registry, MRD and data centre, bulk drug and general store, guest rooms and mortuary. Health minister launched the CT scan facilities at Government Medical College, Ernakulam. The CT machine was procured using the asset development fund of MLA John Fernandez. While he allotted Rs 5 crore for the purpose, government spent Rs 36 lakh to purchase the CT scanner. Fernandez had also sanctioned amount for purchasing a bus for the transportation of medical college staff. The bus will conduct free services for women patients and children in morning and evening.

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