Journey with Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre
The journey with Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (CCHRC), under the leadership with Dr. Ravi Kannan, started in the summer of May 2024, with a visit to Silchar. We got a chance to visit the field, with the Cachar team, and had a first-hand experience, of the wonderful work, that they do at the community level. We were also lucky to see first-hand an early case of cancer, treated with thermal ablators, at the community health centre level. What followed was further visits, discussions with Dr. Kannan and a series of meetings at the highest level of the government machinery in Odisha, starting with the Hon’ble Deputy CM and the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Health and Family Welfare (HFW), Govt., of Odisha, in April 2025, following which we had further meetings with the Hon’ble CM, Odisha and the Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Development Commissioner, Govt. of Odisha, in August 2025. This led to further discussions and presentations to the National Health Mission (NHM) Govt., of Odisha and the Director Public Health (DPH), in the months of September and November 2025. Finally we had a meeting with the Chief Secretary, Govt., of Odisha, in December 2025, and a field visit to the selected districts of Keonjhar and Bolangir, ending with a debrief meeting with the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Health and Family Welfare (HFW). The implementation plan and strategy has been designed and chiseled, as a result of these discussions, at multiple levels, spread over the last two years.