During this Japan visit of Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a tri party agreement also signed between Japan Green Hospital Inc., Aichi Hospital Ltd andEthics Advanced Technology Limited (EATL).Under this Agreement, initially 2000 Crore Taka will be invested to build a Cancer Hospital and a Research Centre, a Nursing College and an Institute of Medical Technology. The State Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Md. Shahriar Alam and the ambassador for japan Mrs. Rabab Fatima was also present during the agreement signing ceremony. The agreement is signed between Mr. Hiroyiki Kobayishi from Japan Green Hospital Inc., Dr. Moazzem Hossain of Aichi Hospital Ltd and Ethics Advanced Technology Limited (EATL) Managing Director M a Mubin Khan. The prime minister expressed her great satisfaction saying Bangladeshi people will receive the latest modern technology equipped cancer treatment at home country due to this joint venture is matter of great achievement and relief.
The hospital will provide services like – Japanese technology for cancer screening from door to door and will introduce Japanese technology Proton Therapy first time ever in Bangladesh. Currently this technology is not present even in any country of South Asia, Singapore and Bangkok. Proton therapy has shown proven result of treating all types of cancer with minimum harmful side effects, more direct impact on the tumor and increased tumor control.
The same group Japan Green Hospital Inc., has already invested 1000 crore taka for treating heart and kidney diseases. With help of this investment a construction of a hospital is currently going on in Uttara and will be officially open in coming New Year January 2020.
Bangladesh is a middle income country that is facing many challenges, especially in the health sector. Cancer management is a priority due to the current trend of increased cancer cases in this region. International Agency for Research (IARC) said 7.5% of total death in Bangladesh in 2005 was due to cancer. But the agency estimated that the number will grow to 13% of total death by 2030. As per WHO report of 2018, 1,50,781 new cancer cases was found in Bangladesh just in last year and approximately 1.08 lakh people die of cancer in Bangladesh every year
The combined effort of government and private sector is now a demand of the time to treat this disease. One of the dream project of Japan Green Hospital Inc., Aichi Hospital Ltd and Ethics Advanced Technology Limited (EATL)is to open a Cancer hospital and Research center in the heart of Dhaka city (Purbachal). The mission of that center will be to upgrade the treatment facilities, to develop skilled manpower and to spread awareness through campaigns and research.
The country at present has 37 cancer treatment facilities (source: Cancer Awareness Foundation Bangladesh). Around 150 qualified clinical oncologists and 16 pediatric oncologists working in the different parts of the country. Modern treatment plan that are currently available in the country are – Dual energy Linear accelerators, Cobalt, Brachytherapy, Deep X-ray, Truebeam. Diagnostic facilities that are currently present are- PET-CT, SPECT-CT, digital mammography with stereotactic biopsy.
But this latest technology proton therapy equipped hospital will make a great impact for improving the lives of the cancer patients in Bangladesh. It will help in decreasing the cancer related mortality, patronize cancer related research activity in Bangladesh more, will focus on developing skilled manpower for treating cancer patients, and reducethe economic loss of the country. It will ensure better patient experience, better quality of treatment and better learning opportunity in this sector