Lok Sabha Question No. 2937 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-17
Subject: Oncology Department at District Level
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 UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2937 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 th  MARCH, 2023

## ONCOLOGY DEPARTMENNT AT DISTRICT LEVEL

## 2937.    DR. S.T. HASAN:

Will the MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether cases of cancer are increasing in the country mainly due to food adulteration, air pollution, lack of clean water and the unregulated mobile towers, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether there is no Oncology Department or facility for cancer treatment in district hospitals;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to set up oncology department to provide treatment facility in every district for cancer patients;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the timeline fixed in this regard; and
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a)  to  (e):  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  NonCommunicable Diseases (NCDs), including Cancer. Under NPCDCS, 708 District NCD Clinics, 301 District Day Care Centres, and 5671 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: Cancer Treatment Facility is approved in all New AIIMS

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

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

|   Sl. | State            | Name of Govt Medical College                                                      | Facility                                         |
|-------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
|     1 | Jharkhand        | RIMS Ranchi                                                                       | 68 bedded Oncology Block                         |
|     2 | Punjab           | Govt Medical College Amritsar                                                     | Oncology                                         |
|     3 | Himachal Pradesh | Rajendra Prasad Govt. Medical College, Tanda                                      | Oncology                                         |
|     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                                |
|     9 | Uttar Pradesh    | M.L.N Government Medical College, Allahabad                                       | Surgical Oncology                                |
|    10 | Uttar Pradesh    | LLRM Medical College, Meerut.                                                     | Radiotherapy                                     |
|    11 | Uttar Pradesh    | Govt Medical College, Agra                                                        | Radiation /Medical Oncology                      |
|    12 | Bihar            | Patna                                                                             | Radiotherapy (equipment)                         |
|    13 | Kerala           | Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences &Technology, Thiruvananthapuram | Imaging Services and Interventional Radiotherapy |