A 500-sickbed cancer hospital will be put into operation in the central city of Danang in October and will give free treatment to poor patients, the Danang City Sponsoring Association for Poor Women and Children said.

Da Nang Cancer Hospital will operate in October and give free treatment to the poor

Vice president of the association Nguyen Thi Van Lan made the statement in an interview with Tuoi Tre yesterday.

The hospital has been built on an area of 15 hectares with a total investment of VND1,300 billion ($62.3 million), which was mainly contributed by benefactors, businesses, and non-government organizations.

The city authorities have also asked the government to finance the purchases of medical equipment for the hospital, Lan added.

With the new hospital in operation, cancer patients in central Vietnam can be examined and treated in the city, instead of having to seek treatment in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

Poor patients in the central region who obtained a poor household certificate issued by their local authorities will be totally exempted from hospital fees, which will be paid by Danang Health Insurance and the association.

Also, relatives of poor patients will be given free meals during the time they stay at the hospital to take care of those patients.

Danang City Party Committee secretary Nguyen Ba Thanh suggested the association give support to families of poor patients to help improve their living conditions, Lan said.

As for patients who are not classified as poor, Thanh advised the hospital to charge them equal or less than the prices at other hospitals.

In terms of examination and treatment quality, Lan said, “This is a humanitarian hospital, but it is equipped with advanced equipment for cancer treatment. We have recruited 500 qualified doctors and nurses and sent them to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for training. Some of them have been trained aboard.”