Centre reviewing infrastructure of district hospitals for setting up daycare cancer centres

New Delhi: The government has started a survey to identify the gaps and review infrastructure of all district hospitals in order to implement the budget announcement of setting up daycare cancer centres in all health facilities over the next three years.

The estimated expenditure for setting up these centres will be Rs 3,200 crore over the next three years, Union Health ministry officials said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech that the government will facilitate setting up of daycare cancer centres in all district hospitals over the next three years and 200 of these will be established in 2025-26.

"This will lead to an increase in access to quality cancer care for more people especially in rural areas. Also this will reduce the burden on tertiary care centres, allowing them to focus on more complex cases, by offering such services at district level," she said.

A senior official said these will be four-six bedded centres and will focus on providing chemotherapy services and conducting cancer prevention and awareness programmes.

"We have started conducting a gap analysis and reviewing the infrastructure of all district hospitals for setting up these cancer centres. As part of the exercise we will also assess the cancer load in these district hospitals," the official added.

As part of the government's ongoing effort for cancer care, over the last few years over Rs 3,000 crore has been approved for the period 2014-15 to 2025-26 for 19 State Cancer Institutes (SCIs) and 20 Tertiary Cancer Care Centres (TCCCs).

Also cancer treatment facilities have been approved in all 22 new AIIMS.

Since the inception of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) approximately 68.43 lakh hospital admissions amounting to Rs 13160.75 crores have been authorised for cancer related packages under the scheme, Health Minister J P Nadda recently said.

At 217 AMRIT pharmacies, 289 oncology drugs are given at a significant discount of up to 50 per cent of market rates. Also under the PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, affordable anti-cancer and oncology medicines are given.

The government has introduced screening for individuals aged 30 years and above under National Health Mission (NHM) at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and over 26 crore people have been screened for oral cancer, 14 crore for breast cancer, and 9 crore for cervical cancer at Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs.

The government has also fully exempted from basic custom duty 36 lifesaving drugs for treating cancer, rare and chronic diseases.