Maharashtra might soon have a comprehensive cancer care plan with every district in the state having facilities like diagnosis units, day care radiotherapy and chemotherapy services. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired a review meeting pertaining to cancer policy and treatment at his official residence in Mumbai on Monday.
“Patients should get timely diagnosis and treatment, and that too close to their homes. For this, one should aim to have cancer diagnosis units, day care radiotherapy, and chemotherapy services at every district level,” Fadnavis said during the presentation on cancer policy in the state given to him.
During the meeting, Fadnavis instructed officials to have a proper policy pertaining to cancer diagnosis and treatment. He even urged the authorities concerned to immediately complete the pending construction of the Sant Tukadoji Maharaj Cancer Hospital in Nagpur. Besides this, Fadnavis said to consider setting up a new cancer hospital at Sainagar, Shirdi, with support from the Shirdi Sai Sansthan. According to media reports, recently, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, in a written reply, had mentioned that Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu record the highest number of cancer cases in the country.
The Maharashtra CM then called for a detailed policy to ensure comprehensive cancer treatment for people across the state. Fadnavis even proposed to have a single cloud-based command centre for advanced cancer hospitals (L3 centre) to coordinate care. “Early detection and modern treatment methods are effective. Those in need should get effective service without any delay,” Fadnavis said.
As per the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Cancer Registry Programme, UP alone reported over 2.11 lakh cases, followed by Maharashtra (1.21 lakh), and West Bengal (1.13 lakh). Bihar recorded 1.09 lakh cases, and Tamil Nadu had 93,536.
Experts link the surge to lifestyle factors such as tobacco and alcohol use, poor diet, and inactivity. India currently has the third-highest cancer burden in the world, with lung cancer being most common in men and breast cancer in women.
