M S Patel Cancer Center

Manibhai Shivabhai Patel cancer centre is culmination of major cancer programme that serves the villages of the two districts in Central Gujarat.The programme seeks to create awareness about cancer, educate the rural communities about advantages of early detection and screening of those at high risk of cancer for the existence of the disease. The center has facilities for radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Cancer has long been the focus of the Hospital's activities, mainly because of its location, in heartland of tobacco cultivation. The oral cancers are a source of major concern in this region as are women-specific cancers such as breast and cervical. The setting up of the Cancer Centre was the culmination of the hospital's efforts in over 500 villages of Anand and Kheda districts of Gujarat, in collaboration with Tribhuvandas Foundation, Asia's largest NGO in the field of maternal and infant care, to educate the communities about cancer and to make them aware of the advantages of early detection. This programme is now under implementation for over 5 years and has led to substantial improvement in awareness about cancer.

Cancer, however, is a disease that drains a family's resources:spiritual,mental and financial. The high cost of the treatment often results in patients and their families forsaking treatment, an option that in many cases not only means loss of opportunity to improve longevity and quality of life, but also painful prognosis. The hospital continuously seeks to enhance its efforts to raise funds for indigent patients to ensure that they are well treated for this dreadly disease and don't remain untreated only because of the lack of funds and financial instability.