First Family donation:

Cancer Institute gets ward complex

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday opened the two storied ward complex at the Maharagama Cancer Institute in memory of his mother Dandina Samarasinghe Dissanayake and First Lady’s mother Vilolet Wickremesingne.

This project was funded by President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s family members and philanthropists.

Fulfilling, a long-standing need, First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa donated medical equipment worth Rs 65 million to the Institute recently.

A cancer patient has to spend over Rs. 150,000 to obtain treatment using such equipment, if he seeks treatment from private hospitals. The patients at the Maharagama Cancer Institute can receive these treatments free with this donation of high-tech-equipment. Over 15,000 patients receive treatment from the Institute a year, It caters to more than 600 outdoor patients a day.

United Nurses’ Association President Ven Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, Health Minister Maitripala Sirisena and Labour Relations and Productivity Promotion Minister Gamini Lokuge were also present.