LEADING contracting firm G P Zachariades has been awarded a contract to build a BD32-million ($84.87 million) national oncology centre at King Hamad University Hospital, Muharraq, in Bahrain.

Work on the centre is scheduled to start this month (August) for completion in February 2017 in a package costing BD31.8 million ($84.34 million).

The landmark 120-bed centre will be built on an area covering 57,000 sq m. Once operational, the new centre will eliminate the need to send citizens abroad to undergo early detection tests and necessary treatment for cancer.

Mazen Alumran Consulting Engineers has been selected to design the project in co-operation with Hassell, a leading international design practice with expertise in specialised oncological centres.

“The facility will include a 10-bed bone marrow transplantation centre, the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf region,” said hospital commander Major General Dr Shaikh Salman bin Ateyatala Al Khalifa, adding that it will also be equipped with latest technology for the treatment of cancerous tumours.

“Bone-marrow transplant operations will be conducted to cure patients suffering from sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia at the facility, which will be linked with King Faisal Scientific Research Centre,” he said.

The centre will be supplied with the latest radiotherapy equipment to destroy malignant cells with a 2-mm precision and without any side-effects on the patient.