Lok Sabha Question No. 278 (STARRED), answered on 2024-08-09
Subject: Affordable Treatment of Cancer
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri M K Raghavan

## GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE

## LOKSABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 278 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH AUGUST, 2024

## AFFORDABLE TREATMENT OFCANCER

## *278 SHRI M K RAGHAVAN:

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

- (a) whether the Government plans to come out with a scheme in the country to make cancer treatment affordable to common man, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted a study on various types, age groups and occurrence of cancer in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether all district hospitals across the country are being equipped with treatment of life threatening diseases, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has observed any infrastructure shortage for Government hospitals in Kerala, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the steps and measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure free treatment of senior citizens against all diseases across the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)

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

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 278 FOR 9 TH AUGUST, 2024

(a) Cancer patients are getting treatment at various health facilities in the health care delivery system including Medical Colleges, different AIIMS institutions, etc. Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India has approved setting up of 39 tertiary institutions (19 State Cancer Institutes and 20 Tertiary Care Cancer Centres) under the scheme of ' Strengthening of Tertiary Cancer Care Centres Facilities ' . All new AIIMS and many upgraded existing Government Medical Colleges/Institutions under Scheme ' Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) ' have special focus areas of Oncology. Setting up of National Cancer Institute at Jhajjar (Haryana) and second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata are also steps in this direction. Moreover, the Department of Atomic Energy has established cancer centres in Kharghar, Varanasi (two), Guwahati, Sangrur, Mullanpur, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Muzaffarpur. The Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai is also providing services for cancer care.

The State of Assam has implemented a three level distributed Cancer Care Model to deliver standardised and affordable Cancer care.

The treatment in Government Hospitals is either free or highly subsidized for the poor and needy.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals has informed that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed ceiling prices of 131 anti-cancer scheduled formulations included in Scheduled-I as per the provisions of DPCO, 2013. In addition, NPPA capped the Trade Margin of select 42 Anti-Cancer non-scheduled formulations.

Further, there are various schemes of Government of India to facilitate accessible and affordable healthcare and treatment, which are as follows:

i. Treatment of cancer is available under Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), health insurance coverage of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization is provided to over 55 crore poor and needy beneficiaries. National Health Authority (NHA) has approved the inclusion of diagnostic tests which are useful for staging and treatment planning in the confirmed cases of cancer. The diagnostic packages introduced are with respect to Breast, Cervical and Oral cancers.

ii. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Scheme was launched to set up dedicated outlets known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) to provide quality generic medicines at affordable prices. As on 30th June 2024, there are 12,616 PMBJKs in the country. Under PMBJP, 2047 types of medicines and 300 surgical devices have been brought under the basket of the scheme, of which 83 products are for cancer treatment.

iii. Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT), initiative launched by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare provides affordable medicines for treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases. As on 15.07.2024 there are 210 AMRIT Pharmacies spread across 29 States/Union Territories, selling more than 5,200 drugs including Cancer at significant discounts.

(b): The National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) is operated by the NCDIR (National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research), Bengaluru under Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). This provides the data on cancer incidence, mortality, pattern, trend and geo-pathological distribution of cancers. As per the ICMR-NCRP data, the estimated number of incidence of Cancer cases of various types of all age groups for the year 2023 in the country is 14,96,972. Further details on cancer statistics are accessible on the website https://ncdirindia.org/Publications.aspx

(c) to (e) The Government of India (GoI) implements the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) in all States/UTs with an aim to prevent and control major NCDs [Hypertension, Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, Stroke, Chronic kidney disease, COPD/ Asthma, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, three common Cancers (Oral, Cervical and Breast)]. The focus of the programme is as follows:

- i. Strengthening infrastructure
- ii. Human resource development
- iii. Health promotion
- iv. Screening of 30 years and above population at Ayushman Arogya Mandir for common NCDs i.e. diabetes, hypertension and common cancers (oral, breast and cervical)
- v. Early diagnosis and management
- vi. Referral to an appropriate level of healthcare facility

Under NP-NCD, NCD Clinics have been set up at 753 District hospitals and 6238 Community Health Centers. Additionally, 356 District Day Care Centres for Chemotherapy have been set up in identified District hospitals.

In the State of Kerala, Government Medical College, Kozhikode (TCCC) and Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram (SCI) are approved and functional.

The ' National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly ' (NPHCE) has been launched & implemented to provide dedicated health care facilities to the senior citizens (above 60 years of age) at various level of primary, secondary and tertiary health care. These health facilities provide preventive, promotive, diagnostic, curative and rehabilitative services to the senior citizens. Tertiary care services are being provided through Regional Geriatric Centres (RGCs) located at 19 Medical colleges in 18 states of India and two National Centres of Aging (NCAs) one in AIIMS, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi and another in Madras Medical College, Chennai.

*******