Centre strengthens cancer care through NHM, Ayushman Bharat initiatives
New Delhi, July 21 (TNT): The Centre on Tuesday said it is strengthening cancer care across the country through infrastructure development, early screening, decentralised treatment facilities and financial support under various schemes, while reiterating that healthcare is primarily the responsibility of State Governments.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav said the Department of Health and Family Welfare is providing technical and financial assistance to States and Union Territories under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD) as part of the National Health Mission (NHM).
He said 770 District NCD Clinics, 524 Day Care Cancer Centres (DCCCs) and 6,410 NCD clinics at Community Health Centres have been established across the country to strengthen screening, early diagnosis, referral and treatment of non-communicable diseases, including cancer.
He said eligible families under the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) are entitled to cashless health coverage of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary hospitalisation. The scheme covers 1,961 treatment procedures across 27 medical specialties, including medical, surgical and radiation oncology.
To facilitate early detection, population-based screening for oral, breast and cervical cancers is being carried out for individuals aged 30 years and above through Ayushman Arogya Mandirs by trained ASHA and ANM workers under the National Health Mission.
Jadhav said Day Care Cancer Centres are being established in district hospitals under a hub-and-spoke model to decentralise cancer care and improve access to chemotherapy and other day-care oncology services.
Under the Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer Facilities Scheme, the Centre has approved 19 State Cancer Institutes and 20 Tertiary Care Cancer Centres across the country.
He added that the Tata Memorial Centre has established six cancer hospitals at Varanasi, Visakhapatnam, New Chandigarh, Guwahati, Sangrur and Muzaffarpur, while cancer diagnosis and treatment facilities have also been extended to all 22 new AIIMS.
The National Cancer Institute at Jhajjar and the second campus of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata are also providing advanced cancer care services, he infomed in the Rajya Sabha.
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