CLOSING THE GAP IN CANCER CARE

CLOSING THE GAP IN CANCER CARE

In India the number of newly diagnosed cases of cancer annually, is about 17.8 lakhs. Among men, the top three cancers with the highest incidence are those in the oral cavity (1,38,000 cases), cancer of the pharynx (90,000) and those of the gastro-intestinal tract (2,00,000). Among women there are 140,000 fresh cases of breast cancer, 100,000 cervical cancer cases, and 45,000 cases of oral cancer. The disease kills 8.8 lakh people annually.

The gaps that I perceive are in advocacy, early detection, rural-urban divide, problems of inequality and inequity, lack of trained man-power, scarcity of resources, failure of early detection, inadequacy of screening programmes, inadequate emphasis on Quality of Life of Cancer patient, insufficient effort at cancer pain relief, lack of penetration of medical and radiation oncology facilities in non-urban areas, long distances for patients to travel and last but not the lease - the cost of treatment. Two-thirds of India's cancer patients are treated in the private sector and with very little government support and very poor insurance penetration they end up paying from their pockets. Every year 60 million Indians are pushed below the poverty line because of “catastrophic healthcare related expenditure on cancer. The moral aspect of using all the savings of the family and selling property and farmland just to prolong a few weeks of painful existence in this world also needs to be addressed.

 

The cancer care gap is not inevitable. Our systems can be re-imagined, a person’s situation can be improved, their knowledge about cancer can be increased and their access to services made easier. 

Collectively, we can reduce the gap in Cancer Care by: 

·         educating the public about cancer prevention

·         equipping healthcare professionals with skills and knowledge including about how inequity influences cancer care

·         strengthening primary health care delivered in communities

·         addressing through policy and programmes some of the social and economic factors that can negatively affect people’s health

·         increasing the resources – meaning both money and people – dedicated to cancer research

·          tracking the burden of cancer nationally to more effectively shape our investments

Cancer needs to be seen and addressed as a public health priority and educating about cancer prevention should start from schools.