History

Established in the year 1981 jointly by the Government of Kerala and Government of India, the RCC, Thiruvananthapuram, is a comprehensive cancer centre catering to the population of the State of Kerala and the adjoining parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Genesis and Evolution

RCC was established as a state-owned premier cancer care hospital and research centre. What started out as an expansion of the Radiation Therapy / Radiotherapy Department of Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, is now a tertiary care centre for the management of all types of cancer.

During its formative period, the State Government transferred a few departments of the Medical College, primarily concerned with cancer care to the RCC. This was with a view to develop it as a Centre of excellence and augmenting its teaching and research activities. It has been designated as a Science and Technology Centre in the health sector by the State Government.

The first standalone Paediatric Oncology Division in the Country was established in 1982. In order to promote early cancer detection, the first Community Oncology division in India was established in RCC, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1985. RCC has one of the finest diagnostic oncology set-ups in the country. The centre has made much progress in the area of radiological imaging techniques using ultrasound, CT and MRI scanners, mammograms and more dynamic real-time nuclear isotope scanning.

Within a few years, the centre achieved computerisation of the outpatient department, patient data management, accounting, clinical research, pharmacy and stores. With special focus on human resource development, the RCC has organised several workshops to give advanced training for its faculty members.

With the planning and execution of Kerala State Cancer Control Programme undertaken by the RCC, the centre has gained considerable experience in conducting community-oriented cancer control programmes. It also provides counselling for patients to overcome psychological problems following mastectomy, and supplies breast prostheses.

Apart from clinical and scientific achievements, the Centre has pioneered schemes to help the less privileged socio-economic groups. The 'Cancer Care for Life' (CCL) scheme was launched in 1986 to generate a welfare fund for cancer patients. Consequent upon the winding up of the CCL scheme of Rs.101/- per policy holder, a new CCL project of Rs.500/- per policy was launched in 1993. The scheme has been stopped in the year 2014. RCC was elevated as the ‘State Cancer Institute’ and also got the coveted NABH accreditation status in the year 2014. With these commendable efforts in over the past four decades, the Centre has carved a unique niche in the health map of Kerala.