New Delhi: More than 68 lakh cancer treatments worth over Rs 13,000 crore have been performed under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, with 75.81 per cent of them undertaken in rural areas, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said on Tuesday.
Of these, more than 4.5 lakh treatments worth over Rs 985 crore were undertaken for “targeted therapies” against cancer, with 76.32 per cent of their beneficiaries coming from rural areas, Nadda said responding to a question in Parliament.
The benefits, he said, were accorded under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
He said that an initiative for screening, management and prevention of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, has been rolled out in the country under the National Health Mission.
Under the scheme, people suspecting they have cancer can also call in for expert opinion from district and tertiary care hospitals.
In PMJAY, treatment for several types of cancers, including breast, oral and cervical, is provided under more than 200 packages with more than 500 procedures of medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology and palliative medicine.
Of these, 37 packages are related to targeted therapies such as chemotherapy for CA Breast, metastatic melanoma, chronic myeloid leukaemia, Burkitt’s Lymphoma, and CA Lung, the minister informed.
Those suffering from cancer and are below the poverty line can also avail of a one-time financial assistance of up to Rs 15 lakh, provided under the Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF).
The minister said that the scheme provides for the sale of generic medicines at 50 per cent to 80 per cent price of branded medicines through Janaushadhi Stores and the 217 AMRIT Pharmacies.
A total of 289 oncology drugs are given at half the market price.
Nadda said that the government had in the budget announced it would set up 200 day care cancer centres at district hospitals in 2025-26.
Under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), 770 district NCD clinics, 233 cardiac care units, 372 district day care centres, and 6,410 NCD clinics at community health centres have been set up, he said.
In addition, 19 state cancer institutes and 20 tertiary cancer care centres have been set up in different parts of the country to provide advanced cancer care.
Cancer treatment facilities have been approved in all 22 new AIIMS with diagnostic, medical, and surgical facilities, he said.
Two such centres where advanced cancer treatment is provided are the National Cancer Institute in Jhajjar, Haryana, with 1,460 beds, and the second campus of Chittranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata, which has 460 beds.
There are 372 District Day Care Centres providing chemotherapy across the country, Nadda said.
The minister said that under the Department of Atomic Energy, Tata Memorial Centre has two units/hospitals in rural and semi-urban locations, the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Sangrur in Punjab, and the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Muzzafarpur in Bihar.
