India needs more oncologists, cancer expert says

India needs more oncologists, cancer expert says

It is estimated that there would be one million new cancer cases in India soon and this figure is likely to double in the next 25 years. In spite of such a heavy cancer load on the population, there are not enough trained and qualified oncology personnel, said Dr Devendra D Patel, former director of Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, on Friday.

Delivering the Dr S Krishnamurthi memorial lecture at the Adyar Cancer Institute here, Patel said, "Though the country has 30 Regional Cancer Care (RCC) centres, people in remote parts do not have treatment facilities within their reach. Because of this, they end up going to quacks which has disastrous consequences."

The country has a limited number of surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and dedicated oncology nurses. "Having state of the art radiation oncology facilities in unrepresented parts of the country is the need of the hour and each medical college should have a specialized medical oncology department," said the expert.

This could be achieved only if each RCC centre has training, teaching and qualification provisions in the respective oncology fields, he added, pointing out that higher facilities like chemotherapy was limited to only major centres and this should be expanded.

Patel said despite the burgeoning cancer burden, doubts and uncertainty clouded the minds of the people. The oncology expert pointed to a survey that assessed the awareness about cancer among the public. Out of the 60,000 people surveyed, 70% did not have any idea about cancer.

"A large number of people were ignorant about the role of tobacco in cancer and there was widespread consumption of tobacco in the forms of smoking and chewing," he said.

Statistics show that 82 people died every hour in India due to smoking and smoking kills 54 times more than all murders committed worldwide.

Over the past 60 years, cancer treatment has advanced significantly but the ultimate aim should be to make it affordable and accessible to all, he said.

"Earlier surgery was radical but compromised the quality of life of a patient. But that is not the case today. We are currently in an era of minimally invasive surgeries which preserves patient's psyche, appearance and quality of life. But there is still a long way to go," he said.