Lok Sabha Question No. 293 (STARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Oncology Department in District Hospitals
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: S.T. Hasan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 293 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 TH  AUGUST, 2022

## ONCOLOGY DEPARTMENT IN DISTRICT HOSPITALS

## †*293. DR. S.T. HASAN:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  adulteration  in  food  items,  polluted  air,  contaminated  water  and  large number of cellular base stations/towers are the major reasons of cancer, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether proper cancer treatment facilities are not available in district hospitals due to lack of dedicated oncology departments;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the steps being taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to set up oncology departments in district hospitals across the country to provide proper treatment facilities for cancer along with timelines fixed for the same?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR MANSUKH MANDAVIYA)

- (a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 293* FOR 5 TH  AUGUST, 2022

(a) to (d): Cancer is a multifactorial disease, the risk factors of which, include ageing population, sedentary lifestyle, use of tobacco products, unhealthy diet and air pollution.

-  As  informed  by  ICMR,  adulterated  food  items  are  associated  with  cancer  of breast,  brain  and  prostrate  as  per  study  published  in  Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology in 2018.
-  As  per  the  report  of  technical  committee  under  Directorate  General  of  Health Services to assess the impact of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and suggest preventive and corrective measures, air pollution is associated with cancer.
-  As informed by ICMR, contaminated water is associated with cancer of skin as per study published in Clinics in Oncology in 2020.
-  As  per  Department  of  Telecommunication,  there  is  no  evidence  about  cellular base stations and towers associated with cancer.

The  Department  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare,  Government  of  India,  provides technical  and  financial  support  to  the  States/UTs  under  the  National  Programme  for Prevention  and  Control  of  Cancer,  Diabetes,  Cardiovascular  Diseases  and  Stroke (NPCDCS), as part of National Health Mission (NHM), based on the proposals received from the States/UTs and subject to the resource envelope. Cancer is an integral part of NPCDCS.  The  programme  focusses  on  strengthening  infrastructure,  human  resource development,  health  promotion  &  awareness  generation  for  Cancer  prevention,  early diagnosis,  management  and  referral  to  an  appropriate  level  of  healthcare  facility  for treatment  of  the  Non-Communicable  Diseases  (NCDs),  including  Cancer.  Under NPCDCS,  685  District  NCD  Clinics,  266  District  Day  Care  Centres,  and  5451 Community Health Center NCD Clinics has been set up.

A population-based initiative for prevention, control and screening for common NCDs  i.e.  diabetes,  hypertension  and  common  cancers  has  been  rolled  out  in  the country under NHM and also as a part of Comprehensive Primary Health Care. Under the initiative, persons more than 30 years of age are targeted for their screening for the three common cancers i.e oral, breast and cervical. Screening of these common cancers is  an  integral part  of service delivery under Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres.

Cancer is diagnosed and treated at various levels in the health care facilities. The treatment in Government Hospitals is either free or highly subsidized for the poor and needy.  The  Central  Government  implements  Strengthening  of  Tertiary  Care  Cancer Facilities Scheme in order to enhance the facilities for tertiary care of cancer. 19 State Cancer  Institutes  (SCIs)  and  20  Tertiary  Care  Cancer  Centres  (TCCCs)  have  been approved under the said scheme. The details are attached in annexure 1.

There is also focus on Oncology in its various aspects in case of new AIIMS and many upgraded institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). The details  are  attached  in  annexure  2.  Setting  up  of  National  Cancer  Institute  at  Jhajjar (Haryana)  and  second  campus  of  Chittaranjan  National  Cancer  Institute,  Kolkata  are also steps in this direction. All these enhance the capacity for treatment of cancer in the country.

## Table of SCIs/TCCCs:

|   S No | State            | Name of the Institute                                                | SCI / TCCC   |
|--------|------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|
|      1 | Andhra Pradesh   | Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool                                     | SCI          |
|      2 | Assam            | Gauhati Medical College &Hospital, Guwahati                          | SCI          |
|      3 | Bihar            | Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna                   | SCI          |
|      4 | Chhattisgarh     | Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences, Bilaspur                 | SCI          |
|      5 | Delhi            | Lok Nayak Hospital                                                   | TCCC         |
|      6 | Gujarat          | Gujarat Cancer Research Institute, Ahmedabad                         | SCI          |
|      7 | Goa              | Goa Medical College, Panaji                                          | TCCC         |
|      8 | Haryana          | Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt                                         | TCCC         |
|      9 | Himachal Pradesh | Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla                                | TCCC         |
|     10 | Himachal Pradesh | Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College, Mandi                      | TCCC         |
|     11 | Jammu &Kashmir   | Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar               | SCI          |
|     12 |                  | Government Medical College, Jammu                                    | SCI          |
|     13 | Jharkhand        | Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi                       | SCI          |
|     14 | Karnataka        | Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (RCC), Bengaluru               | SCI          |
|     15 |                  | Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya                         | TCCC         |
|     16 | Kerala           | Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram                           | SCI          |
|     17 |                  | Government Medical College, Kozhikode                                | TCCC         |
|     18 | Madhya Pradesh   | G.R. Medical College, Gwalior                                        | TCCC         |
|     19 |                  | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Medical College, Jabalpur                 | SCI          |
|     20 | Maharashtra      | RashtrasantTukdoji Regional Cancer Hospital &Research Centre, Nagpur | TCCC         |
|     21 |                  | Government Medical College, Aurangabad                               | SCI          |
|     22 |                  | Vivekanand Foundation &Research Centre, Latur                        | TCCC         |
|     23 | Mizoram          | Mizoram State Cancer Institute, Aizawl                               | TCCC         |
|     24 | Nagaland         | District Hospital, Kohima                                            | TCCC         |
|     25 | Odisha           | Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre, Cuttack                      | SCI          |
|     26 | Punjab           | Government Medical College, Amritsar                                 | SCI          |
|     27 |                  | Civil Hospital, Fazilka                                              | TCCC         |
|     28 | Rajasthan        | S P Medical College, Bikaner                                         | TCCC         |
|     29 |                  | SMS Medical College, Jaipur                                          | SCI          |
|     30 |                  | Jhalawar Medical College &Hospital, Jhalawar                         | TCCC         |
|     31 | Sikkim           | Multispecialty Hospital at Sochygang (Sichey), near Gangtok, Sikkim  | TCCC         |
|     32 | Tamil Nadu       | Cancer Institute (RCC), Adyar, Chennai                               | SCI          |
|     33 | Telangana        | MNJ Institute of Oncology &RCC, Hyderabad                            | SCI          |
|     34 | Tripura          | Cancer Hospital (RCC), Agartala                                      | SCI          |
|     35 | Uttar Pradesh    | Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow    | TCCC         |
|     36 | Uttarakhand      | Government Medical College, Haldwani                                 | SCI          |
|     37 | West Bengal      | Government Medical College, Burdwan                                  | TCCC         |
|     38 |                  | Murshidabad Medical College &Hospital, Berhampore, Murshidabad       | TCCC         |
|     39 |                  | SagoreDutta Memorial Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata           | TCCC         |

Table 1: Status of 22 New AIIMS

|   Sl. | AIIMS       | Status                                      |   Sl. | AIIMS     | Status                                      |
|-------|-------------|---------------------------------------------|-------|-----------|---------------------------------------------|
|     1 | Bhopal      | Functional with Cancer Treatment Facility   |    12 | Bathinda  | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     2 | Bhubaneswar | Functional with Cancer Treatment Facility   |    13 | Guwahati  | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     3 | Jodhpur     | Functional with Cancer Treatment Facility   |    14 | Bilaspur  | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     4 | Patna       | Functional with Cancer Treatment Facility   |    15 | Deoghar   | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     5 | Raipur      | Functional with Cancer Treatment Facility   |    16 | Jammu     | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     6 | Rishikesh   | Functional with Cancer Treatment Facility   |    17 | Kashmir   | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     7 | Raebareli   | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |    18 | Madurai   | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     8 | Mangalagiri | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |    19 | Rajkot    | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|     9 | Nagpur      | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |    20 | Bibinagar | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|    10 | Kalyani     | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |    21 | Manethi   | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |
|    11 | Gorakhpur   | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |    22 | Darbhanga | Being set up with Cancer Treatment Facility |

Table 2: List of State Govt. Medical Colleges being upgraded for cancer treatment

| Sl.       | State            | Name of Govt Medical College                   | Facility                    |
|-----------|------------------|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| Phase-I   | Phase-I          |                                                |                             |
| 1.        | Jharkhand        | RIMS Ranchi                                    | 68 bedded Oncology Block    |
| Phase-II  | Phase-II         |                                                |                             |
| 2.        | Punjab           | Govt Medical College Amritsar                  | Oncology                    |
| 3.        | Himachal Pradesh | Rajendra Prasad Govt. Medical College, Tanda   | Oncology                    |
| Phase-III | Phase-III        |                                                |                             |
| 4         | Karnataka        | Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli | Medical Oncology            |
| 5         | Rajasthan        | SP Medical College, Bikaner                    | Surgical Oncology           |
| 6         | Rajasthan        | RNT Medical College, Udaipur                   | Radiotherapy/Oncology       |
| 7         | Telangana        | Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal             | Medical Oncology            |
| 8         | Uttar Pradesh    | Govt Medical College, Gorakhpur                | Surgical Oncology           |
| 10        | Uttar Pradesh    | M.L.N Government Medical College, Allahabad    | Surgical Oncology           |
| 11.       | Uttar Pradesh    | LLRM Medical College, Meerut.                  | Radiotherapy                |
| Phase-IV  | Phase-IV         |                                                |                             |
| 12        | Uttar Pradesh    | Govt Medical College, Agra                     | Radiation /Medical Oncology |
| 13.       | Bihar            | Patna                                          | Radiotherapy (equipment)    |