Answers To Cancer

Thanks to self-testing devices, precision medicine and new vaccines, cancer care is changing and how

- Mini P. Thomas

During his year-long treatment for cancer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, Tushar Rishi, 20, felt like a mere speck. The hospital is always abuzz with patients, says the Ranchi resident. A second-year student of English literature at Hindu College in Delhi, Rishi was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his left knee at the age of 16. He had eleven rounds of chemotherapy and a surgery. “Everyone at AIIMS is super efficient, but the patient volume in the hospital is humongous, and that makes things difficult for everyone,” says Rishi, who wrote The Patient Patient based on his cancer experience.

Cancer care is poorly organised in India, particularly in the public sector, says Dr Shah Alam Khan, professor and orthopaedic oncologist at AIIMS. “As a result, a huge chunk of patients from north and northeast India come to us,” he says. “We have patients from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh who have moved to Delhi for treatment. They manage for two or three months. Once the money gets exhausted, they are on the streets.” Khan calls these patients cancer refugees.

Improved cancer diagnosis and care in smaller towns seem to be the need of the hour. The overcrowded cancer train from Bathinda to Bikaner is a running reminder of the grave situation. There are about 12,000 cancer patients in the Malwa region of Punjab alone, thanks to exposure to known carcinogens like chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Lack of affordable health care makes these patients travel to Bikaner in Rajasthan for treatment.