KARACHI, July 20: Construction work is continuing apace at the site of an oncology centre which is being built under the auspices of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT).

The centre, to be completed at a cost of Rs300 million, would be ready by the first half of 2005, said SIUT Prof Anwar Naqvi. The money for the project had been provided by a philanthropist.

Prof Naqvi said all the services at the new centre would be absolutely free as the operating funds would be provided by the philanthropist.

The building housing the oncology unit would be a seven-storey structure having a total covered area of 7,000 square feet, said the professor. The structure would be linked to the SIUT’s new building through two bridges.

He said the new centre would be equipped to deal with all cases of urological oncology. “It will have operation thea-tres and also an academic division.”

Prof Naqvi said the incidence of prostrate cancer was on the rise. “With increasing life expectancy, we are now seeing detection of more and more cases of prostrate cancer, which calls for remedial steps,” he said.

The professor told Dawn the new centre would be equipped with machines needed for Brachytherapy — a technique to treat prostrate cancer. Linear accelerators would also be acquired for the new centre.