Guwahati: A five bed Bone Marrow Transplant ward, the 2nd Bhabatron machine for radiation therapy, and Blood Irradiator facility were inaugurated at Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), Guwahati by Padma Shri Dr.Rajendra A Badwe, Director of Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai on Tuesday.

The Bone Marrow Transplant unit was developed with funding support from the H T Parekh Foundation, which is a corporate social responsibility wing of the HDFC Bank. The Blood Irradiator along with multiple state-of-the art surgical instruments and a mobile blood collection van have been donated by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). 

The program was attended by Ziaa Lalkaka, Chief Executive Officer of HT Parekh Foundation, Saurav Chaliha, General Manager, IOCL, Dr.Shripad Banavali, Director (Academics), TMC, and Dr C S Pramesh, Director of Tata Memorial Hospital.

A general meeting was held at the auditorium of BBCI where the welcome speech was delivered by Dr B B Borthakur, Director of BBCI. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Badwe highlighted the need for low cost affordable cancer care facilities across the country. As per Ziaa Lalkaka, H T Parekh Foundation is contributing 18% of its CSR funds for North East India.

It must be mentioned that Assam Oil Division of the IOCL has donated  state-of-the art surgical instruments to other peripheral units of TMC at Varanasi, Vishkhapatnam, and Sangrur in Punjab. BBCI is also one of the five peripheral centers of TMC, Mumbai, further stated by the press release.