(At the moment, India is woefully unprepared to tackle the predicted rise in cancer cases; the need of the hour is more cancer specialists and better treatment options in the existing infrastructure. With economic development a focus, improving healthcare must be a priority too. This World Cancer Day, here’s hoping the government wakes up and takes note.)
By the year 2025, the number of cancer cases in India will multiply five times, with a higher spike in women than men, according to the World Health Organisation. That’s not all, currently, there are only 2,000 cancer specialists in the whole country to take care of more than 10 million cancer patients.
It is tough not to notice that India’s public healthcare system is already in shambles. Bollywood, perhaps the great mirror to our society, uses the phrase, “sarkari hospital ki tuti hui bench” (Welcome, 2007) as a legitimate insult. Indians are mortally afraid of just three edifices: the police station, court room and a public hospital.
To cure the ailing public health infrastructure, the Union Health Minister announced 20 new advanced cancer treatment centres like AIIMS. But it’s a race against time. A cancer hospital is not a bakery item, produced at will, like roti from a tandoor or a double roti from an oven. Moreover specialised edifices are not the panacea for India’s ailing public health crisis; the need of the hour is more cancer specialists and better treatment options in the existing infrastructure.
But can more AIIMS-like hospitals really be the panacea for India’s public health crisis?
There are several reasons to be skeptical.