New Delhi: The estimated number of cancer cases in the country in 2020 was 13,92,179 and it is projected to increase by 12.8 per cent, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed Lok Sabha on Friday citing National Cancer Registry Programme data.
Responding to a question, Mandaviya said patients with cancer are getting treatment at various health facilities, including district hospitals, medical colleges, central institutes like AIIMS and private hospitals.
Relevant data related to patients registered for treatment is maintained by the institutions and hospitals concerned at their own level. Under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN), financial assistance is provided to poor patients belonging to families living below poverty line, suffering from major life threatening diseases for medical treatment at any of the super specialty hospitals/institutes or other government hospitals, Mandaviya said.
Under the Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund (a component of RAN), Rs 216. 98 lakh was utilised for 40 beneficiaries as on December 5, 2022, in the 2022-23 fiscal.
In the previous financial year, Rs 585.05 lakh was used for 64 beneficiaries while in 2020-21, 1,573 lakh was used for 196 patients and in 2019-20, 2,677.08 lakh was utilised for 470 patients, he stated.