Health Minister JP Nadda said on Friday that the government is making every effort to ensure that cancer patients have access to reasonable and accessible treatment as the number of cases in India increases. Responding to supplementary questions during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Nadda stated that the government made every effort to ensure that patients get inexpensive and accessible care.
"The number of cancer cases is going up, it is increasing by almost 2.5 per cent every year," Nadda told the crowd. He stated that occurrences of oral and lung cancer in males are increasing, while more women are developing breast cancer.
According to Nadda, over 1.55 million cancer cases are documented each year. "There is a list of 131 important cancer drugs in Schedule 1, which are monitored and their prices are determined by the government. "These are the commonly used medicines," Nadda stated.
He claimed that the pricing restriction saved patients around Rs 294 crore in total. "There are 28 combinations, which are not in this list but the NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority) and the government have controlled their pricing as well. We have tried to make cancer drugs affordable," he said.
Responding to another question on healthcare facilities, Nadda stated that the government was aware of the situation and that medical colleges were being expanded to accommodate more physicians. "There should be a balance between quality and quantity in medical education. We are attempting to go as quickly as possible while not compromising the quality of medical doctors," he stated.
Nadda informed the House that the number of medical schools has increased from 387 in 2014 to 731 currently, while the number of MBBS seats has increased from 51,348 to 1,12,112 (1.12 lakh) over the same period. The number of postgraduate places for medical students has increased from 31,185 in 2014 to 72,627 now, he said.
