Day care cancer centres yet to come up in Delhi even a year after announcement

The programme included hands-on chemotherapy training and was aimed at equipping frontline healthcare professionals with essential skills in chemotherapy drug handling, patient monitoring and clinical management, in line with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) guidelines.

The MoHFW had allocated Rs 11.07 crore to Delhi under the National Programme for Non-Communicable Diseases to establish these centres.

Under the PM-DCCC initiative, the proposed centres are intended to provide chemotherapy, counselling services and medicines to cancer patients. According to the plan, each facility will have four to six beds and be staffed by either an oncologist or a trained medical officer, along with two nurses, a pharmacist, a counsellor and a multi-purpose worker.

However, according to officials in the Delhi Health department, the project is still in the preparatory stage.

“Work is in progress, but earmarking space in the four identified hospitals is yet to be completed. In a couple of hospitals, we are awaiting finalisation of the location. Once infrastructure and human resources are in place, operations will begin,” a senior official said.

In Delhi, the four approved centres were to be set up at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital, Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital and Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya Hospital.

The Delhi government also has plans to start a separate oral chemotherapy outpatient department (OPD) at Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital.

The Union Health Ministry did not comment on the delay till press time, while Delhi Health Secretary Nikhil Kumar was unavailable for a response.

While the government had proposed that staff for these cancer centres be drawn from existing strength at district hospitals, a parliamentary panel has recommended separate recruitment.

“The committee desires that separate human resources, including health professionals and nurses, be provided instead of drawing from the district hospital pool, as there is already a scarcity of healthcare professionals in these hospitals,” the panel observed in a report.

In her Budget speech last year, Sitharaman had stated that the centres would be rolled out over three years, with at least 200 facilities to be established during the current financial year.

Delhi has one of the highest cancer incidence rates among major Indian metropolitan regions, with projections indicating a significant surge in cases. According to recent ICMR-National Cancer Registry Programme estimates, Delhi reported 28,387 new cases in 2024, up from 27,561 in 2023. The case burden in the Capital is expected to rise by 23% by this year.