New Delhi 16 February 2025 (Bharat Khabarnama Bureau) The central government planing to open four to six-bed Daycare Cancer Centers (DCC) in all 759 districts of the country to provide chemotherapy services where essential medicines would also be available and biopsy could also be done. The aim of this government initiative was to ensure easy access to care and affordable treatment for cancer patients.
According to top officials of the Union Health Ministry, these DCC centers would remain open during the daytime and would screen common cancers in high-risk individuals. There is a plan to set up 200 Daycare Cancer Centers in the current financial year itself and discussions have also started with the states to identify available district hospitals where such facilities could be started for the people immediately.
According to the government data, more than 14.1 lakh new cancer cases were reported in the country in the year 2022 and more than 9.1 lakh deaths were reported due to cancer. According to the global cancer prevalence data released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) last year, the average risk of a person developing cancer before the age of 75 in India is 10.6 per cent, which is about one-third of the US (34.3%) and Canada (32.2%). But when it comes to the risk of death, Indians are also almost at par with other countries.
According to IARC, about 35 million new cases of cancer could be registered by the year 2050, which is 77 per cent more than the estimated 20 million cases in 2022.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) cancer agency says that the rapidly increasing global cancer burden reflects both population ageing and growth. Tobacco, alcohol and obesity were the main reasons behind the increasing incidence of cancer. Air pollution is still a major driver of environmental risk factors, report said.
