LAHORE: Following the approval from the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC), the Punjab government has issued an order to hire a consultancy firm for the development of the business model for the establishment of the first-ever public sector cancerhospitalandresearch centre in Lahore.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz wanted the groundbreaking ceremony of the 915-bed cancer hospital on Raiwnid Road, Lahore, next month.

A senior official said the approval from the ECNEC was the final phase/step to start work on the flagship multibillion cancer hospital project in Lahore.

He said the ECNEC had approved the establishment of the Nawaz Sharif Institute of Cancer Treatment & Research in Lahore with an allocated budget of Rs52.7 billion, making it the first mega government sector cancer hospital of the country to provide free-ofcost treatment to patients.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had planned the establishment of the hospital following reports that the rising number of cancer patients in the province did not have much option for treatment other than a few private institutes, which was a huge expenditure burden on poor patients.

The King Edward Medical University (KEMU) had provided the technical support and prepared the feasibility of the proposed cancer institute on Raiwind Road.

The official said the Punjab government, after approval from the ECNEC, has expedited the process and issueddirections to the chief executive officer (CEO) for the hiring of the consultancy firm for the development of the business model for the establishment of the cancer institute.

Sharing the details, KEMU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mahmood Ayaz told Dawn the rising number of cancer patients in the province prompted the CM to set up the cancer hospital near Valencia Town, Lahore.

According to the Phase-I of the PC-I, he said, the proposed institute would house a 280-bed main hospital building, 150-bed cancer care clinic, 75-bed hospice & palliative care facility, 110-bed bone marrow transplant centre (BMT), designated accommodation for doctors, energy centres etc.

In the second phase, he said, the institute would have a 300-bed new block building and a 300-car parking plaza.

Declaring it an international standard dedicated cancer facility, he said it would provide treatment modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation ther-apy and palliative care.

Secondly, the project would also house a facility to accommodate patients having terminal illness in the hospice.

Prof Ayaz said the institute would ensure collaboration among multidisciplinary teams of oncologists, surgeons, radiologists and pathologists.

`This project will be constructed on approximately 333 kanal land and the site has a direct approach from a triple carriageway not far from the junctions of the intra-city highway (motorway) and the Ring Road,` the KEMU VC said.

The institute would house many other important facilities including pet and cyclotron, radiology department (along with MRI and CT scan), catheterisation labs & angiography, pathology labs, gamma camera, dexa scan, hot lab, OPD, surgical & medical intensive care units, high dependency unit, major operating theatres, dedicated facilities for preand post-operative care, emergency and many inpatient wards etc.