Make cancer treatment affordable, upgrade infrastructure: Par panel

A parliamentary panel has urged the government to upgrade the infrastructure for cancer treatment and make it affordable by enlarging the network of a leading healthcare institute, as it expressed concern over nearly two-thirds of the patients dying in the country.

The parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forest and climate change submitted its report on "an expanded role for the department of atomic energy in cancer treatment in India through an enlarged network of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai".

The report was submitted by the panel members, including chairman Jairam Ramesh, to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday, the upper house secretariat said in a statement.

The panel has recommended to set up a hub and spoke model under the Tata Memorial Centre, which is the leader in cancer treatment and is supported by the Department of Atomic Energy.

"It (committee) recommended wider adoption of 'Hub and Spoke' model proposed by Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) across the country," the statement said. "TMC has proposed that common and less complex cancer care facilities should be provided close to patients' homes (spoke) to create minimum disruption in their lives and that of their families."