Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bengaluru

Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (KMIO), Bangalore is a Regional Cancer Centre (RCCs). KMIO is arecognised exclusive tertiary cancer care centre cum academic and research institutes, delivering modernhealth care by groups of trained professionals and paraprofessionals coming together as interdisciplinary teams and has facilities for advanced medical investigation and treatment. KMIO was accorded RCC statuson 1st Nov 1980 by Government of India and is a member of UICC and recognised by WHO. KMIO is State Government Autonomous Institute. The Indian Council of Medical Research has recognised this referral Institution as a research organization.

Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology commemorates the memory of one of the most distinguished sons of India. Shri Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, who played a great role in the freedom struggle and later worked shoulder to shoulder with other national leaders in strengthening the roots of democracy and secularism in our country. The then Governor of Bombay donated 20 acres of the Campus land and Rs.1.00 lakh for the Radiotherapy machine.

KMIO was conceived by the City Fathers as far back as 1957 as a private venture, it was the taking over of the project by the Government of Karnataka in 1971 that finally set the ball rolling to the Inauguration of the institute on 26th June 1973. The Government of Karnataka by an order on 27th December 1979, converted the institute into an autonomous Institution, to enable it not only to mobilise resources and expertise from other national and international agencies but also, consequent thereof, to develop and grow further into a pioneer and model in the field of Oncology in Karnataka. The Institute was registered on 8th January 1980 as an independent body. The first Director of the Institute -- Dr. M. Krishna Bhargava took charge as Director of the autonomous institute on 23rd January 1980. Monday the 21st April 1980 was a momentous day for the Institute, Shri B. Shankaranand, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, formally inaugurated the autonomous Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology.

The Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology has, with its autonomous status, finally evolved into a Tertiary Cancer Institute providing modern multidisciplinary total patient care, conducting medical/clinical research, promoting cancer education programs both at the institute and in the community and initiating planned epidemiological studies in this part of the country. The autonomy of the centre confers maximum centralised administrative and management authority over planning and execution, budgets, allocations staff appointments and procedures ensuring thereby the most important attribute of such a centre—the excellence in quality of all work rendered.The Institute stands poised today on the threshold of a future with an endless potential and promise in the service of cancer patients in particular and in cancer control in general in the State of Karnataka.