Paediatric oncology care in India: Rural vs urban disparities [Video]

Dr Silky Jain, Senior Paediatric Haemato-Oncologist and BMT physician in Delhi NCR highlights that with over 70 per cent of India’s population living in the rural areas, challenges such as lack of education and awareness about childhood cancer, its early signs and the ideal course of treatment, and financial constraints, still persist. This eventually leads to frequent cases of advanced malignancy, poor health outcomes, abandonment of treatment, and high mortality rate

Isn’t it startling to witness that more than four lakh children across the world are diagnosed with distinct types of cancers, with an estimated number of seventy-five thousand children developing cancer every year in India? What makes the predicament more worrisome is the lack of accessibility to the right treatment in regions that have dearth of advanced medical facilities and qualified physicians specialising in controlling and even curing the most complex cancers in children. While early-stage cancers are still …