As a part of the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative by the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd headed by B Anil Kumar Executive Director (AP Telangana) and Ms Parama CSR -Head Kotak Securities extended their helping hand to Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (HBCH & RC) Visakhapatnam for setting up better diagnostic facilities for taking care of cancer patients.

The new facility, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy unit, a first-of-its-kind in the civilian sector on the East coast of India, has been commissioned here on Friday at the cost of Rs. 80 lakhs by Kotak Securities Ltd to treat emergencies such as gas embolism and decompression sickness it is now being used to treat many other conditions such as radiation-induced cystitis and proctitis, diabetic foot and salvage of tissue flaps.

While the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd IOCL)  donated Rs 1.8 crores to fund state-of-the-art clinical monitoring systems for the operating rooms and intensive care units of the center which will be used for 2500 cancer patients a year who are operated on and admitted to the ICU of the hospitals. And, this will lead to double the current capacity of doing surgeries here in HBCH& RC over the next 6 months thereby helping reduce the waiting time for oncologic treatment of many cancer patients. 

In addition to this, IOCL helped for procuring state of the art next generation sequencing (NGS) unit (Ion Gene Studio S5TM) by the IOCL which allows rapid sequencing of the whole or parts of the human genome.

Applauding the noble gesture of both organizations, the Director of HNCH & RC, Visakhapatnam, Prof. Umesh Mahanshetty, said with these diagnostics facilities,  we will do more research to explore new indications for cancer care and reduce complications of cancer care. 

About: HBCH & RC

HBCH&RC Vizag is a 170-bed tertiary referral oncologic center at Aganampudi in Visakhapatnam providing comprehensive, affordable, evidence-based cancer care in this region. 

From humble beginnings in temporary portable cabins, HBCH&RC Vizag has grown to include the newly launched 7 modular operation theatres, day care chemotherapy units, inpatient wards, Intensive care units, radiation therapy with external beam therapy, and brachytherapy units, nuclear medicine services, diagnostic services including comprehensive biochemical, pathology and microbiology services, mammography, CT scanners, and PET scanners. 

In addition, it provides full rehabilitation services, through dental, speech and swallowing therapy, nutrition, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and psychology departments. It also has a palliative care unit providing services for inpatients, outpatients, and home-based care. The preventive oncology unit provides cancer prevention services in the hospital and the community, through awareness and screening programs.