In celebration of the 81st Armed Forces Day 2026, the opening ceremony of the National Cancer Center (NCC) in Dagon Myothit (Seikkan) Township, Yangon Region was held on the morning of March 7 and was attended by the Acting President and Chairman of the State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC) Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, according to sources.
The ceremony was attended by the Commission Member Prime Minister U Nyo Saw, Union Ministers, Yangon Region Chief Minister, Senior Military Officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, Commander of Yangon Command, international cancer experts, medical experts, health workers, invited guests and officials.
At the opening ceremony, the center was opened by Prime Minister U Nyo Saw, Union Ministers U Tin Aung San, Dr. Thet Khaing Win, U Myo Thant, and Yangon Region Chief Minister U Soe Thein, cutting the ribbon, and the Acting President unveiled the center signboard.
Then, the Acting President sprinkled fragrant water on the inscription of the NCC’s 5-storey building, and the members of the commission, the Prime Minister, Union Ministers and the region Chief minister sprinkled fragrant water on the inscription.
Then, the Acting President and members arrived at the new 8-storey cancer treatment building and sprinkled fragrant water on the inscription of new building. The Acting President and those attending the ceremony toured the radiation cancer treatment rooms in the center and gave necessary instructions based on the explanations given by the Union Minister of Health and the treatment specialists in each room.
The second part of the opening ceremony of the National Cancer Center was held at the conference hall of the 8-storey cancer treatment building. In his opening speech, the Acting President said that today is a blessed day for the country's health sector, a day that can set a new milestone, and that he would like to express his great pride and joy at being able to open the National Cancer Center, which was built with state funds. He would like to express his great pride and joy at being able to open this event in honor of the 81st Armed Forces Day in 2026. Throughout our tenure as the state, we have been setting goals to strengthen the foundations for the future development of the country, and we have been implementing the goal of "promoting the national education sector and health sector for the sustainable development of the country" and are taking practical measures. In human life, "only when people are healthy can they study and only when they are healthy can they work," so health is the most fundamental foundation for survival and human resource development. Only when people are healthy and strong can we enhance the country's productivity, social stability, and the development of new generations. Therefore, we are working at a rapid pace with the goal of ensuring the longevity of our people, disease prevention, and health and fitness.
In addition, we all know that we have faced many major challenges in the health sector during the five years we have been in charge, but we have been able to overcome them successfully. In the first year, the government, staff and people have successfully overcome the global pandemic of COVID-19 with the policy of “nothing is more important than human life”. Similarly, when faced with natural disasters such as Cyclone Mocha in 2023, Typhoon Yagi in 2024 and the Mandalay earthquake in 2025, we can see that health workers have sacrificed themselves and worked together to provide health care services. Therefore, despite the difficulties, we have been able to successfully carry out the work, and since there have been no subsequent health problems, the rehabilitation work has been carried out effectively and quickly. In terms of providing health infrastructure, we have been able to upgrade 25 public hospitals in five years and to bridge the gap between urban and rural healthcare and ensure equality, 12 new hospitals with 16 beds were opened in rural areas. A total of 41 new hospital buildings and staff housing were built in 5 years, as well as high-quality facilities that hospitals deserve, the Senior General said.
In upgrading the health sector, efforts are being made to achieve the goal no.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of developing a skilled health human resource. In the five years since the policy of “If there is a hospital, there must be a doctor”, 2,649 new doctors, including dentists, nurses, medical professionals and public health workers, have been appointed to every public hospital. In addition, arrangements have been made for the staff to attend postgraduate courses at home and abroad to improve their capabilities, and the promotion of the position of nurses and the upgrading of nursing schools to universities of nursing have also been made. The incidence of non-communicable diseases is increasing significantly in the world, and among these diseases, cancer is becoming a major challenge for the health sector. According to the World Health Organization, there were about 20 million new cancer patients worldwide in 2022, and about 9.6 million of them died. Since the risk of developing cancer in our country is estimated to be 13.9 percent before the age of 75, cancer prevention and control has become an important national responsibility. In order to reduce the mortality rate due to cancer and to enable early detection and treatment of the disease, the National Cancer Control Strategic Plan (2023-2027) has been formulated in Myanmar and is being implemented as a national strategy for cancer prevention, control and treatment.
In addition, there are various treatments for cancer such as chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. Radiation therapy is a very important treatment for curing the disease and controlling the spread of the disease. In order to reduce the waiting time for cancer patients to receive radiation therapy, special priority has been given to the funding required for the purchase and installation of radiation therapy machines. Therefore, a total of 26 radiation therapy machines and nine Brachytherapy implanters have been installed and used in Myanmar. After 2021, seven new radiation therapy machines were installed in major hospitals in Yangon, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw, and the Ministry of Health now has five radiation centers, 15 radiation therapy machines, and 4 acupuncture devices in major public hospitals and departments. In addition, 4 radiation centers, 4 radiation therapy machines, and one acupuncture device are now installed in military hospitals. The private sector has also been granted permission to use advanced radiation therapy machines, and 5 radiation centers, 7 radiation therapy machines, and 4 acupuncture devices are being installed in private hospitals. The National Cancer Center, which opened today, was opened with the aim of providing medical treatment and conducting research for cancer patients as a one-stop comprehensive care center. The state has approved over Ks34 billion for the 5-storey treatment rooms building, eight-story treatment rooms building and radiation therapy rooms, over Ks12 billion for staff housing, and over Ks30 billion for three new radiation therapy machines in the 2024-2025 FY. This year, one new radiation therapy machine donated by donors is worth Ks19 billion, and the acting president expressed his gratitude for the donation.
The rooms for radiation therapy for patients who will receive radiation therapy were built in advance. Therefore, before the center was completed, two radiation therapy machines were installed in October 2024 and another radiation therapy machine in January 2025, allowing for pre-treatment. More than 50,000 radiation and cancer treatments were provided to 1,601 patients, significantly reducing the waiting time for patients. In addition, since the completion of the facilities in July 2025, inpatients have been accepted, and 285 inpatients and 3,805 outpatients have been treated. With the completion of such infrastructure, it is necessary to work in accordance with standard treatments to improve the quality of cancer treatment. To increase cooperation with foreign experts, the Acting President also called for continuous training and production of nuclear medicine specialists and specialists who can handle the equipment professionally, and urged to cooperate with the government to establish a National Cancer Registry and to increase research activities by cooperating with the international community.
The Acting President especially emphasized that no matter how modern the equipment is, the skills and dedication of the human resources who handle it are the most important factors for the success of treatment. Since cancer patients can also suffer psychologically from the pain they are experiencing, he strongly urged health workers to take advantage of the three qualities of “selflessness, passion, and sacrifice” and provide warm and compassionate care to patients with a family spirit. He also urged everyone to work together to maintain the department, which the public can trust. As prevention is better than cure, the people need to adopt healthy lifestyles, reduce alcohol and tobacco consumption, get vaccinated against cervical cancer and hepatitis B, and detect the disease at the earliest. Therefore, I would like to urge them to link the primary health care system and accelerate cancer prevention activities nationwide. I would like to record and honor all the officials from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction, and the Yangon Region Government who have worked hard to successfully complete such modern facilities to provide better health services to the public. I would like to express my gratitude to all the officials from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Construction, and the Yangon Region Government for their efforts to provide better health services to the public. The National Cancer Center is a department that will be used for many years and will remain a landmark in the history of the Ministry of Health as it is a department that will benefit the people. I wish all of them to continue to serve the people with good health, he said.
After the Acting President and those attending the ceremony watched the video of the opening ceremony of the National Cancer Center, the Union Minister for Health presented the Acting President with a gift commemorating the opening of the National Cancer Center.
The Acting President and his family presented donations for the National Cancer Center, which were received by the Union Minister for Health.
The Union Minister for Construction then handed over the documents related to the National Cancer Center building, which the Union Minister for Health received and presented a certificate of honour. The Union Minister for Health expressed his gratitude for the opening of the National Cancer Center.
