The universal screening plan of the Government for certain diseases that are generally ignored, is a solid intervention to ensure that healthcare gains primacy
What may happen if an entire city were to turn sickIJ Its productivity would get severely affected. People would spend enormous amount of money on treatment which would compromise their other spendings. Wealth creation will get circumscribed. Happiness would become scarce; mental stress predominant. Incidentally this is not a mere hypothesis. A population of the size of a big city — over 11 lakh people — is ill, severely ill in India with various forms of cancer. What is worse, the number keeps growing every year, if the data of Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) is to be believed. And there is no reason to dispute the figures. In fact, many say this may be just the tip of the iceberg.
In this backdrop, when one reads a front-paged story in in a national daily on World Cancer Day about universal screening programme by the Ministry of Health, it does raise lot of hope. In what can be dubbed as resolute attempt at giving wings to a much-needed health programme that sadly failed to take off in the Congress-led UPA regime, the Narendra Modi Government has charted out a concrete plan of action for this. The Health Ministry has firmed up plans to roll out a universal screening programme for diabetes, hypertension and three types of cancer for all those who have attained 30 years. To begin with, this initiative will be rolled out in 100 districts, out of the 707 total districts in the country.
The three diseases together account for major casualties in India every year and the intensity of it has only been growing with each passing day. It is sad that at 2.2 million, Indian today reports the maximum number of deaths every year because of cancer, out of the 8.8 million reported death worldwide. India has also unfortunately been dubbed as the diabetes capital of the world with an estimated 50 million people suffering from type-2 diabetes. Also, India's record of cardiovascular disease (CVD) at 272 per 100,000 is higher than the global average of 235, according to the Global Burden of Disease study.
Experts say that much of the casualties can be contained if people take precautions and go for screening at an early stage. They say about 70 per cent of cancer patients report to doctors at the terminal stage when the chances of survival is dim, and much of the disease can be contained if screened in time. The universal screening programme acquires huge significance in this backdrop. It is heartening to learn than on the personal instructions the Prime Minister, the training for health workers to implement this screening will begin later this month and the actual program is expected to kick off at the beginning of next financial year.
While the Government does have experience of rolling out mass screening — in 2016 September and October, an estimated 360 million people were screened for leprosy which brought to fore over 31,000 new cases — this will require massive inter-agencies coordination and monitoring.
The success of the first phase will also determine how the programme is expanded to cover the entire population so that every Indian is screened at least once in every three years, a stated aim of the Health Ministry.
The rollout will also require massive awareness and change in attitudes, as Indians are known to be casual when it comes to screening. Somehow, the Government must also consider integrating this programme with the Clean India Mission and making universal screening a buzzword across the country. The participation of private agencies including corporate houses and media organisations will also be vital — and the Government must not spare any effort to rope them in.
For those who rued there was very little for the health sector in this year's Budget, they should take solace in this announcement. It a solid intervention and will go a long way in ensuring a healthy India. On India's glorious record sheet of eradicating polio, guinea worm, yaws, smallpox, maternal and neonatal tetanus, this may become yet another entry. However, the path to it shall be long, and hugely tedious.
(The writer is a strategic communications professional)