Just 2,000 oncologists for nearly 10m patients in India
Even as cancer is fast taking epidemic proportions in India, the country is facing a severe shortage of care-givers with merely 2,000 oncologists to look after around 10 million patients. Besides, there is also a dearth of surgical oncologists and radio-therapists, who play a crucial role in cancer treatment.A rapidly spreading disease with very little research, fewer doctors and unequipped hospitals along with spiralling cost of treatment, cancer is fast becoming a major health menace for India with the healthcare system in a shambles to tackle the burden.
As per WHO's latest assessment, cancer cases in India will multiply five times over the next decade (by 2025) with more women falling prey to it than men.Even after adjusting for population growth, the new cancer cases have risen by 30% per unit population, according to several assessments on the trends of the disease.
According to a Lancet report of 2014, slightly over 10 lakh new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in India.Increasing incidence of cancer is also leading to economic burden of treatment, which was 20 times the annual income of an average family , an assessment by AIIMS showed.
Though the government is trying to build infrastructu re to tackle the disease, the wide gap between the number of patients and specialists has hit the expansion plans of not just the government but also of private hospitals trying to create dedicated cancer facilities.
“One core reason why the infrastructure for manage ment of India's cancer burden is insufficient is the severe shortage of educated medical and other health personnel and of the training facilities needed to produce them,“ sa ys the Lancet article. It also points at factors such as the preferences of doctors and other experts for working in more affluent areas, and the effects of a largely unregula ted private sector resulting in a skewed geographical distribution of cancer treatment facilities. About 60% of specialist facilities are located in southern and western India, according to the study . However, more than 50% of the population lives in the central and eastern regions, distorting service provision.
Though the government has announced 20 new advanced cancer treatment centres like AIIMS spread across the country , health ministry officials admit that commissioning these hospitals in an efficient manner may not be an easy task given the dearth of specialists and sophisticated equipment.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com
As per WHO's latest assessment, cancer cases in India will multiply five times over the next decade (by 2025) with more women falling prey to it than men.Even after adjusting for population growth, the new cancer cases have risen by 30% per unit population, according to several assessments on the trends of the disease.
According to a Lancet report of 2014, slightly over 10 lakh new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in India.Increasing incidence of cancer is also leading to economic burden of treatment, which was 20 times the annual income of an average family , an assessment by AIIMS showed.
Though the government is trying to build infrastructu re to tackle the disease, the wide gap between the number of patients and specialists has hit the expansion plans of not just the government but also of private hospitals trying to create dedicated cancer facilities.
“One core reason why the infrastructure for manage ment of India's cancer burden is insufficient is the severe shortage of educated medical and other health personnel and of the training facilities needed to produce them,“ sa ys the Lancet article. It also points at factors such as the preferences of doctors and other experts for working in more affluent areas, and the effects of a largely unregula ted private sector resulting in a skewed geographical distribution of cancer treatment facilities. About 60% of specialist facilities are located in southern and western India, according to the study . However, more than 50% of the population lives in the central and eastern regions, distorting service provision.
Though the government has announced 20 new advanced cancer treatment centres like AIIMS spread across the country , health ministry officials admit that commissioning these hospitals in an efficient manner may not be an easy task given the dearth of specialists and sophisticated equipment.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com
SOURCE::: Feb 04 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai), p.19
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