The Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society (TTCS) has received a donation of more than one million dollars to help in the upgrade and refurbishment of the hospice centre at the St James Medical Complex.

TTCS chairman Dr George Laquis accepted the $1,028,290 cheque from president of the Cancer Benefit Regatta, Calder Hart, at the TTCS centre at Rosalino Street, Woodbrook, yesterday.

Laquis said the refurbished centre will cater for terminally ill cancer patients.

Saying survival rates of cancer patients were increasing due to the advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of various types of cancers worldwide, Laquis said the number of new people being diagnosed with the disease had also been on the increase.

Noting that cancer was not a death sentence, and that people diagnosed with it deserved to die with dignity, Laquis said the centre would provide the kind of palliative care these people need.

The annual fund-raising regatta is held by the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association (TTSA), and monies generated from it are presented to the TTCS to aid in the purchase of essential equipment and accessories.

TTSA president Jerome McQuilkin said the organisation had donated over $4 million to the TTCS since the event was first started seven years ago.