Japan investing Tk2,000cr to build cancer hospital in Dhaka

Japan has come up with a big investment in Bangladesh’s healthcare sector, which remains underdeveloped despite huge business potential. 

Japanese Ship Healthcare Holdings and local Aichi Medical Group will invest Tk2,000 crore to build a 1,000-bed cancer hospital and research centre at Purbachal, Dhaka in the next four years.

“We have gotten approval from the authorities for construction of the physical infrastructure. We will start construction works in January,” said Prof Md Moazzem Hossain, chairman of Aichi Medical Group.

Of the total investment, Ship Healthcare Holdings and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide Tk1,800 crore while Aichi Medical Group will provide the remaining Tk200 crore. 

According to Hossain, JICA will provide technical support for ensuring world-class treatment facilities at the hospital. 

He said they could have started in July but could not do so due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Japanese experts in the country also had to return home because of the pandemic.

Now, they have started to come back to Bangladesh as the situation is gradually returning to normal, so we will start implementing the project, Hossain noted.

He said they have already sought work permits for Japanese specialised doctors and nurses.

The hospital will introduce artificial intelligence for diagnostic purposes in the hospital. There will even be proton therapy for the patients — a first of its kind in South Asia.

According to him, around 4 to 5 lakh patients go overseas for cancer treatment every year. But in future, they can get treatment right here in the capital.          

The Aichi chairman is hoping to go into operation in early 2024 as they are set to complete physical construction within 36 months, including setting up labs, an effluent treatment plant for medical waste, an intensive care unit (ICU), and other necessary equipment.

Aichi Medical Group has been involved with medical, dental, nursing education, and research and development in Bangladesh since 1995.    

Ship Healthcare Holdings has 300 hospitals in Japan and the group has good connections with world-class hospitals in different countries. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year, an estimated 1.5 lakh people develop cancer in Bangladesh. 

Prof Hossain said the number of cancer patients in Bangladesh is increasing day by day. But there are very few cancer treatment hospitals or units in the country. 

At present one functioning palliative care unit under government management is at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). There are only four specialised cancer hospitals in the country. Outside Dhaka, there is only one functional radiotherapy facility at the Chattogram Medical College Hospital and another one at the Cancer Centre of the Khwaja Yunus Ali Medical College and Hospital in Sirajganj. 

The new cancer hospital is expected to provide treatment at a reasonable price.