Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) made a slew of announcements in the health sector, including an increase in the coverage under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme from ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh. Construction of a 400-bed multi-super-speciality hospital at a cost of ₹300 crore in Perambur, the constituency he represents, and allocation of ₹673.44 crore for the Cancer Mission also formed part of his announcements.
“The value of life should not be determined by a person’s income. The TVK government is firm that there should be no discrimination in providing treatment based on a person’s economic status. Mr. Besides, Regional Cancer Centres would be created at medical colleges in Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, and Villupuram districts. The centre would be housed in a ground-plus-eight-floor building. Mr.
Vijay said as Tamil Nadu was witnessing an increase in cancer cases, the Chief Minister’s Cancer Care Mission would be upgraded at a cost of ₹673.44 crore. A cancer treatment section would be created at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital at a cost of ₹471.98 crore. The building for the cancer treatment section would have a ground floor and 14 upper floors. In the first phase, a Regional Cancer Centre would come up at Madurai Rajaji Medical College at a cost of ₹84 crore. The Chief Minister said ₹106.17 crore would be sanctioned to government medical college hospitals for robotic surgery, Linear Accelerators (LINACs), modern equipment, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Vijay said the government would spend ₹2.77 crore on providing training to doctors and nutritional supplements to patients. Moreover, HPV DNA screening tests would be conducted for 1.22 lakh women in Dharmapuri, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Perambalur, and Ariyalur at a cost of ₹8.70 crore.
Medical care is a basic right of every human being, and not a concession,” he said.
