U HLA Tun Hospice (Cancer) Foundation is awaiting permission from the National Health Committee to set up a new inpatient cancer centre in Nay Pyi Taw in Mandalay Division.

U Hla Tun, the founder and chairman of the foundation, announced the plan to build the new centre during the organisation’s ninth annual general meeting at Sedona Hotel September 10.

“At first we planned the centre for Taunggyi (in Shan State) but we dropped the idea because it is too far away to administer properly, so we proposed Nay Pyi Taw instead,” he said.

He said the establishment of hospices throughout Myanmar is one of the foundation’s long-term goals.

U Hla Tun Hospice (Cancer) Foundation was established in 1998 and began by providing homecare services for cancer patients. It established inpatient cancer centres in Yangon in 2000 and Mandalay in 2003 that provide for the physical and psychological needs of patients.

There are currently 33 patients at the Yangon centre and 47 in Mandalay.
The centres accept cancer patients with hospital discharge certificates who are terminally ill, have no financial resources or dependants, and are free from infectious diseases.