Maharashtra joins hands with Tata Memorial, to train rural doctors in cancer treatment

“Cancer has one of the most expensive treatments. A rural patient has to come live in Mumbai for months for treatment. If he is the bread-earner, it burdens the entire family. To avoid this and to reduce the massive load on Tata Hospital, we have come up with this idea,” said Sujata Saunik, Principal Health Secretary.

The training of the programme – ‘Affordable Cancer Care for All’— will be conducted in two phases. “We will first train a team of four in every district on early cancer diagnosis and awareness,” said Dr Sudip Gupta, professor of medical oncology at TMH.

In the second phase, radiotherapy facility, advanced cancer care and detailed treatment protocol will be taught to doctors in six districts — Nagpur, Pune, Nashik, Amravati, Jalgaon and Gadchiroli. Pune’s Aundh Hospital will also be developed as a super specialty cancer hospital in the future.

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“A short-term training for a few weeks will be given to general surgeons and physicians at Tata Hospital. Since these are rural doctors and their work should not suffer, we will keep the trainings short,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck surgeon.

According to him, the programme will help in detecting and treating cancer much earlier. “This will also prevent cancer to enter advanced stage by when only palliative care remains an option,” Chaturvedi said.

According to Dr Sadhana Tayade, state in-charge of Non-Communicable Diseases, breast, cervical and head cancer contribute to 60 per cent of total cancer burden in India. “All these can be prevented with awareness and early detection,” she said.