Affordable healthcare still a challenge: Prez Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said affordable healthcare was still a challenge and the governments, both at the Centre and States, were making efforts for increasing the affordability of cancer treatment.

“Affordable healthcare is still a challenge for us. The cost of cancer treatment has been increasing owing to huge investments on trained manpower and equipment that are necessary for treatment,” he said at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the State Cancer Institute of Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology here.

“Both Centre and states are making their best efforts for increasing the affordability of cancer treatment.” 

Sustained and collaborative multi-agency effort is needed to minimise the suffering of patients and their families, Mukherjee said.

He said India needs to develop a system for early detection and proper disease management, and explore how technology can be best utilised for both prevention of cancer and its treatment. “An appropriate and well defined communication strategy will be one of the key factors in the fight against cancer,” he said.