Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel on Thursday said the government has recently approved a scheme for enhancing Tertiary Cancer Care facilities in the country under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke ( NPCDCS) initiative.
Under the programme the government will grant financial assistance to 20 State Cancer Institutes and 50 Tertiary Cancer Care Centers in different parts of the country.
The new ‘National Health Policy 2017‘ which was recently approved by the Union Cabinet recently, envisages universal access to quality health care services without the burden of financial hardships.
“The policy, while supporting the need for moving in the direction of a right based approach to healthcare is conscious of the fact that threshold levels of finances and infrastructure is a precondition for an enabling environment, to ensure that the poorest of the poor stand to gain maximum and are not embroiled in legalities. The policy, therefore, advocates a progressive incremental assurance based approach, with assured funding to create an enabling environment for realizing health care as a right in the future,” Anupriya Patel said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi.
“Determining the goals of treatment and palliative care is an important first step, and health services should be integrated and people-centered. The primary goal is generally to cure cancer or to considerably prolong life. Improving the patient’s quality of life is also an important goal. This can be achieved by supportive or palliative care and psycho-social support,” Patel further said.
Awareness for prevention of cancer and early detection of cancer is being carried out at all levels through NCD clinics at Districts and CHC levels.
However, higher level facilities for Surgery, chemotherapy and supportive care are available at District Hospitals.
According to Patel, 388 district NCD clinics and 2115 CHC NCD clinics are functional in the country as on March 2017.