Access, digitisation crucial for enhanced cancer-care infrastructure: Elekta India MD

Elekta India MD Manikandan Bala

With the number of cancer cases rising in India, the medical fraternity believes there is a pressing need to develop the cancer care infrastructure in the country.

Industry leaders believe digitisation can pave the way for a better link between rural and urban infrastructure.

Manikandan Bala, MD, Elekta India, said that addressing the growing burden of cancer is one of India’s major health challenges, and called for a thorough review of the nation’s cancer care infrastructure.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Bala said the availability of radiotherapy machines in India is far lower than the standard set by the World Health Organization. “WHO guidelines suggest that for India, there should be one radiotherapy machine per million people. That makes it around 1,400 machines for India. We are currently at around 650, making it a little less than 0.5 per million,” he said.

Radiotherapy, short for radiation therapy, is a treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors.

Infra upgrade a must

According to the Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics, the shortage of radiotherapy machines in India is reflected in the waiting period at radiotherapy departments of public hospitals, which sometimes goes up to one year.

“Therefore, improving access to radiation therapy depends on expanding cancer care infrastructure rapidly,” said Bala.

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Highlighting the pressing need to increase the number of linear accelerators used for cancer treatment, Bala said India will take at least two decades to match current demand based on the existing supply, without major interventions.

The incidence of cancer is rising in India and there are estimated to be 1.9 to 2 million new cases annually. The number of deaths stood at 7.33 lakh in 2018, rose to 7.51 lakh in 2019 and crossed 7.70 lakh in 2020, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply to Parliament.

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Commenting on a partnership Elekta has with AIIMS, Bala said the company was the premier medical institute’s largest partner.

"Elekta is AIIMS’ chosen partner for cancer-care equipment. With around 20 machines commissioned across various cities in India, we are looking at a two-fold increase in the next few months. These machines will support the treatment of several types of cancer, including breast, prostate and ovarian cancers," he said.

Making a case for digitisation 

Bala added that the government urgently needs to link rural and urban healthcare through digitisation to provide quality cancer care in tier 2 and 3 cities.

“There has to be a clinical registry for cancer that can guide healthcare centres in far-flung areas so that the quality of care across the country is the same,” he added.

The Elekta India MD said decentralised radiotherapy planning services are one way to significantly improve access and quality of treatment for rural patients.

“Implementing a hub-and-spoke model can increase access and affordability to radiation therapy. The hub would be in tier 1 cities while tier 2 and 3 cities act as spokes across the country,” he said.

“Public-private partnerships, private-private partnerships and industry-academia collaborations can help us achieve these goals (where everyone has access to the best cancer care) in the long term,” said Bala.

The Elekta India MD highlighted the company’s partnerships with HealthCare Global Enterprises, Anna University and other institutes across India, which focus on providing the radiotherapy community with the necessary skills and training.