“The effort is that the citizens of the whole country can get the benefits of the schemes of the central government, anywhere in the country, there should be no restriction for that. This is the spirit of One Nation, One Health”  Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Introduction
Cancer is rapidly emerging as a matter of public health concern in India. In 2020, there were an estimated 1.39 million cancers in India. Globally, cancer is among the leading causes of death, contributing to about 10 million deaths during 2020. Cancer is being diagnosed and treated at various levels in the Government health care system. The Government has taken a range of steps in recent years to address the challenge of cancer more effectively. These range from population level initiatives for prevention, control and screening for common types of cancer, to strengthening cancer care infrastructure.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer under Ayushman Bharat

• Establishment of Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) across the country was announced by the Government of India in February 2018. Screening of three common cancers e. oral, breast and cervical, along with other common Non-Communicable Diseases, is an integral part of service delivery under the AB-HWCs.
  
• Treatment of cancer under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (launched in 2018) has been one of the prime focus areas to safeguard the beneficiaries from catastrophic expenditure of cancer treatment. Health insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year is provided for secondary or tertiary care hospitalization to over 10.74 crore beneficiary families identified from SECC 2011 Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy packages, along with surgical oncology are covered as part of cancer treatment in the empanelled hospitals under the scheme. A total of 435 procedures have been defined for the treatment of cancer. Measures have been taken to discourage the use of tobacco products, which is one of the key risk factors of Cancer.

Focus on Oncology in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) 

• Significant focus on Oncology in its various aspects has been ensured in the new AIIMS that are being established under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The six functional AIIMS in Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna, Raipur and Rishikesh already have operational cancer treatment facilities. These AIIMS have been provided with state-of-art diagnostic, medical and surgical care The other AIIMS are being set up with cancer treatment facilities.

Strengthening Cancer Care Infrastructure

• Cancer Care Facilities in other Medical Colleges under PMSSY

Cancer treatment facilities have also been created / planned in 13 State Government Medical Colleges which have been taken up for upgradation under PMSSY.
The details  are as follows:

 Enhancing Facilities for Tertiary Care of Cancer

The Central Government is implementing the Strengthening of Tertiary Care of Cancer Scheme in order to enhance the facilities for tertiary care of cancer. 19 State Cancer Institute’s (SCIs) and 20 Tertiary Care Cancer Centres (TCCCs) have been approved so far under the said scheme. Six institutes at Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala have been completed so far. The other 33 institutes are at different stages of development.

Cancer Care Infrastructure in North East India

• One of the major projects identified for the year under PM-DevINE– announced in Budget 2022-23 with an initial allocation of Rs 1500 crore- is the “Establishment of Dedicated Services for the Management of Paediatric and Adult Haematolymphoid Cancers in North-East India, to be located at B. Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) Guwahati” at an estimated cost of Rs 129 crore. This initiative is expected to give a huge boost to cancer care in the region given that in the last 11 years, 3,855 childhood and adult Haematolymphoid cancer patients reported to BBCI for treatment.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation seven cancer hospitals in Assam  at a function in Dibrugarh on 28 April 2022. These cancer Hospitals are built at Dibrugarh, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Darrang, Tezpur, Lakhimpur, and Jorhat. The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of seven new cancer hospitals at Dhubri, Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Tinsukia and Golaghat to be constructed under phase 2 of the project. The project is part of the initiative by Assam Cancer Care Foundation, a joint venture of Government of Assam and Tata Trusts, to build South Asia’s largest affordable cancer care network with 17 Cancer care hospitals spread across the state.

Giving a Boost to Cancer Research

• National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Jhajjar, a state-of-the-art Tertiary Cancer care cum Research Institute constructed at the AIIMS Jhajjar campus,was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modion 12 February Facilities include surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology and approximately
  700 patient care beds, among others. As India’s premier institute of cancer, NCI, Jhajjar is responsible for identifying priority areas for Research & Development carrying out basic and applied research in molecular biology, genomics, proteomics, cancer epidemiology, radiation biology and cancer vaccines.

• The second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata is also a key step in the same It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 7 January 2022. It is a 460 bedded hospital. Out-Patient Department (OPD) services and IPD services had started with effect from August 2020 and August 2021, respectively.
• The Centre for Integrative Oncology (CIO) has been established as a joint venture of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR-ICMR) with the intention of collaborative research activities in ¹² CIO was inaugurated in February 2017.
• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a Cancer Research Initiative, “Affordable Approaches to Cancer” on 14 November The broad aim of the research initiative is to support high quality research to deliver innovative and translatable outputs that accelerate progress against cancer outcomes in both the countries, and which also have

the potential to have major global impact. Under the initiative, the core challenges have been identified and seven seed grants have been awarded.

Other Initiatives by the Government for Cancer Care

• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), under Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, put out list of 390 anti-cancer non-scheduled medicines with MRP reduction up to 87% in The average out of pocket expenditure for cancer patients is 2.5 times that for other diseases. This move benefited 22 lakh cancer patients in the country and would result in annual savings of approx.
  Rs. 800 crores to the consumers.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Promoting Domestic Manufacturing of Medical Devices was approved on 20 March, 2020.The total financial outlay of the Scheme is 3,420 crore. The four target segments of medical devices are cancer care/ radiotherapy medical devices; radiology & imaging medical devices and nuclear imaging devices; anesthetics & cardio-respiratory medical devices; renal care medical devices and all implants including implantable electronic devices.
• The Government has taken many steps to promote research in Ayurveda to develop treatment of cancer. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) set up by the Government as an autonomous organization has undertaken research related to Cancer and has also been involved in drug development and documentation of medical practices, including development of AYUSH QOL2C for improving quality of life in cancer

 References

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(Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)
Source : PIB, Delhi: 12 May 2022