Opinion: Cancer research in India needs mammoth funding

I have always found myself too invested in my writing, guilty of pouring out more than what I must. This is an attempt to share my struggle with an ill-fated reality. I will take you through my scuffle with one of my worst nightmares, a series of unimaginable experiences, crushed expectations and small victories in over a year old, ongoing battle with cancer.

Undeniably, it is a ghastly word, probably one of the most dreaded on the face of the earth, the very reason why many people are not even aware of its sly existence within their bodies until it is too late.

In my mother's case also, it was too late. It all went by in a flash. A doctor's call changed my life like I had never imagined, the very next day I found myself benumbed, sitting in a stuffy train coach, en route to my hometown in Uttar Pradesh. In a few hours, I saw my mother in a state which screamed to be cured, demanded to be fixed but "could only be sustained" coupled with mitigated pain, the doctors stated, "the disease was terminal" -- in its last stage.

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This was last February, after nearly over a year, I have the courage to go through those horrific moments over and over again, not to keep pricking my wound, but to be able to be critical about my experience and tell the story differently. How can my mother's battle with cancer help others prevent or cope with it in a better manner? Can it?

After having my life altered without any control over it, the only thing that made sense was to urge everyone to be watchful of their lifestyle. Rising incidents of cancer cases is a peculiar combination of lack of awareness and the abysmal state of cancer research funding, not only in India but across the globe.

According to an AFP report published last year, prevention can save millions of lives, "much more cheaply than treatment, yet it remains an underfunded, much-neglected weapon in the anti-cancer arsenal".

The World Health Organisation estimates nearly 14 million new cancer cases annually, a number that is expected to swell to over 20 million by 2030.

In such a scenario, it becomes an unshakable responsibility of every nation to ensure an overhaul in cancer research and a bolstered funding mechanism.

While global healthcare costs continue to skyrocket, it becomes an absolute necessity for the medical world to focus increasingly on preventive measures. Studies show, in most cases, people fail to detect cancer in its nascent stage and once advanced or metastasised, the disease gets challenging to contain and exceedingly expensive to treat.

Our battle began in my hometown in Uttar Pradesh, where there existed a gaping disconnect between the required cancer care and the available facilities.

Travel deeper, farther to the remote areas and the situation becomes unfathomable. Patients, along with helpless, clueless family members, shuttle between cities for procedures as simple as a biopsy. Even the basic requirement to determine a positive case of cancer, the PET (positron emission tomography) scan, is not available in most small towns.

Christopher Wild, Director, WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) noted that in the next couple of decades, many countries, mostly the ones with limited resources and low/middle-income, will have the rate of cancer cases almost double, as reported by AFP.

These countries, unfortunately, suffer from the lack of proper and timely access to diagnosis and treatment while bearing the load of nearly two-thirds of the global cancer deaths which currently accounts to nearly 9 million people annually.

Experts suggest around thirds of cancers can be avoided just by preventive measures, taking a cue from the same, I spoke to those who face the sombre reality every day, oncologists who deal with a range of cancers and hundreds of sufferers. Dr Devavrat Arya, Senior Oncologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket is one of the most empathetic and comforting oncologists I have come across. While striving to give his best to his patients, he also expresses regret over the current state cancer care in India.

"We lack the required infrastructure for cancer care. Smaller towns usually have one or no cancer care centre. There is a dearth of cancer care institutes across the country. Although the National Cancer Control Programme ensures funding to medical colleges to set up cancer care units, it will still take some time," Dr Arya noted.

According to him, the primary focus should be on tier-2, 3 cities. "It is the social responsibility of drug companies also to ensure cheaper cancer drugs, even free whenever possible, to those who can't bear the cost. Let us face it, for the majority, cancer treatment is not affordable," he shared.

"In India, cancer is still not the biggest killer. The disease contributes to 8-7 per cent of the total number of deaths in the country, however, now is the time to plan for the future," Dr Arya concluded.

Dr Ashutosh Pattnaik, Odisha-based DNB radiation oncologist and a close friend opens up about the bottlenecks in the path of optimum and effective cancer care in the country. For him, it all starts at the start and therefore he emphasises the importance of early detection and prevention.

"People even in metropolitan cities are not fully aware of the various warning signs of the disease. People often tend to ignore an ulcer or abnormal bleeding long enough to become fully symptomatic," Dr Pattnaik noted.

Succinctly put, while prevention remains an undisputed hero in the fight against mounting cancer cases, it is equally important to ensure that patients from all walks of life, across the globe, have equal access to quality cancer care -- this is the change I yearn to see.

Cancer research should be pumped with mammoth funding so that no life is lost for the need of treatment, THIS should be India's priority.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)