A Study on the Economical and Social Confrontations of Childhood Cancer Care in Chennai District – A Policy Paralysisor a Work in Progress

Abstract

In India according to a report by FICCI and EY cancer occurrence in year 2022 is likely to be 19 to 20 lakhs whilst real numbers are likely to be triple times higher than the reported cases. On the incidence of Cancer worldwide the WHO in its report states, following China and US, India is ranked third in the World.  The burden of cancer itself is shocking but it is even more shocking if Women and Children are ensnared by any form of cancer. The website of the nearly 72 year organization the Indian Cancer Society says that yearly nearly 17 percent of the worldwide childhood cancer cases are from India. It goes on to say that it’s rare and curable if detected early and treated effectively.  In Tamil Nadu alone yearly 1236 cases of childhood cancer are reported as per the ICMR report 2021. Chennai leads with the largest number of Child Cancer cases in India with 159 new cases per ten lakh population reported annually says a 2014 Times of India news article. In today’s India the detection and treatment of Cancer require substantial resources both monetary and logistics, substantial duration(time) of minimum 6 to 12 months depending on the form of cancer and the nature of treatment and recovery (Chemotherapy, Surgery, Radiation). If it is Childhood cancer, we require a specialized paediatric cancer treatment hospital and in childhood cancer the total dynamics of cancer treatment is different. The childhood cancer detection, treatment and follow-up require not only....