A research publication projects the rise of cancer mortality from 6.5 lakhs in 2012 to some 16.5 lakhs by 2035. It’s been noted that the percentage of cancer mortality is pretty much same across both sexes.

The prevalent forms of cancer among men are:

• Prostate
• Lung
• Stomach
• Esophagus

In women:

• Ovary
• Cervical
• Breast

India- key facts and figures

The curious thing about India is that the number of cancer cases detected is low when compared to developed countries; however, the mortality rate is high.

Main reasons for this include:

• High treatment cost making it unaffordable for many
• Late detection of the disease
• Inadequate facilities-particularly in rural regions
• Not enough data record centers to trace out the challenges to handling the issue. The fact that major cancer care institutes aren’t keen to share data regarding cancer mortality and incidences make this even harder

India’s notoriously low allocation for healthcare is just 1.5 percent of the GDP. It is even lesser than many of the other developing nations in the region-for instance, while Sri Lanka spends 2 percent of the GDP, for China it’s 1.9 percent. In Nepal, the cut is 1.6 percent.

Also, there seems to be a consensus that cancer is not given the deserving attention.While the loss of human lives is irreplaceable cancer’s socioeconomic repercussions are not to be overlooked either.

About 10 lakh of cancer cases are reported in India every year. That’s almost 25 percent of the entire Western Europe.Proper care for the rising number of patients calls for a heady investment by both government and private sectors. As per a Frost & Sullivan report, currently the care sector is expanding at a growth rate of around 15.5 percent.

Onwards, Oncology

The moves that the country as a whole make today to tackle the cancerous growth of cancer(no pun intended) will determine how well we fare in the near future.

Some of the factors we would require in this regard include:

• Higher investment on drug research and targeted therapies
• More number of exclusive cancer care centres
• Installation of specialized advanced diagnostic facilities

Given the large population of India, the rise in percentage of cancer patients will translate to a huge number of care seekers. Keeping this in mind, certain measures have to be initiated:

• A synchronized approach is required to tackle the issue-given its gravity and size
• Timely reporting is crucial
• A registry of cases with the precise quantification
• Solutions to fight the disease at both state and national levels
• Clearing unwanted hurdles in procuring clinical approvals
• To whatever extent is possible, absorption of the drug costs by state and union health bodies. Owing to higher treatment costs, it’s the poor who are going to suffer the most if things carry on the way they do.

The 23rd oncology meeting which was held in 2015 at the CDCSO office in Delhi reviewed and recommended over 15 cancer drugs which are under development by agencies both native and global. However, chemotherapy continues to be the most favoured treatment in the present scenario.

With inputs from The Economic Times
Image credits: nature.com

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