Bullshit! We have not properly immunized our population. Basic healthcare is outside the reach of the majority and the we have to tolerate all this gibberish from our Hon’ble minister.

Dear All
I very good initiative and thought process. However unless do comprehensive operatonal and logistic planning these remain as exciting news. Who will do it? Wheree it will be done?, Who will provide Lab and Imaging Facility? Will it be free for all ? Who will pay for it ? What will be record keeping system?
Maj Gen (Retd) M Srivastava,VSM**

I think Mr. Azad should first know what the exact quantum of these diseases in India and what shall be infrastructure and expenditure required for such screening programmes and to deal with the consequences of it.
Political leaders are in habit of giving such sweeping statements that are only meant to fetch popularity without knowing the consequences of the same.

Mr. Azad does not know what will happen if the cancer cases are detected during these screening programs . He does not have adequate cancer treatment centres in this country.
Very much in the capital of India in the medical college set ups the cancer departments are either non existent or defunct or malfunctioning or headed by incompetent people who are surrendered to Govt of India for their non performance again and again and they come back to serve the same department again and again through their bureaucratic and political clouts .( THE LNJP story)
to name are
GTB Delhi state cancer hospital with no brachytherapy facility or comprehensive cancer management facility. Policy makers and politicians are fooled by the present director by showing them a five star hotel like infrastructure that contributes minuscule to over all cancer care.
Lady Hardinge Medical College: Head of radiotherapy languishing in a room with no treatment infrastructure. He has been given assignments to treat leaking taps and blocked toilets…PWD .
MAMC and Lok Nayak Hospital: Teletherapy machine shut down due to repeated blunders committed by Heads of the department duo and no brachytherapy facility. Due to this MCI has withdrawn the post graduate seats. The MD radiotherapy course that existed for last 25 years of so has been shut down due the blunders committed by the leadership of the department and there is acute shortage of manpower in form of shortage of resident doctors.
The 50 bedded ward that takes care of patients with chemotherapy and radiotherapy faces the threat of closure .
Safdarjung Vardhaman Mahaveer Medical College: three cobalt machine but one only in use due to absence of medical physicist, Brachytherapy present but not used for last five years due to incompetent leadership.
RML Post graduate Institute: No cancer treatment facility in a comprehensive manner present even though some departments do play their own tunes.
AIIMS: over crowded with three to four months long waiting list and reports of technician dominated atmosphere that results in underutilisation of all the sophisticated equipment and over burdening of specialist staff.
The truth of the above sited statement can be gauged by the waiting lists that prevail in many of the govt. set up medical colleges.

There has been acute shortage of medical physicists and radiation therapy technicians in India because of which many of the radiation therapy department,those in Govt set ups that deal with 80 percent population of cancer patients are shut down by a regulatory order from Atomic Energy.

There is acute shortage of Medical and surgical oncologists to deal with early and late stage cancers.

Most of the states in India do not have the health insurance sachems like Andhra Pradesh has where the govt funds and finances the treatment of cancer in any of the state’s five star cancer treatment centers.
This unique schema has given respite to the poor, eliminated waiting list and the govt funds get siphoned in the institutions for a right cause to purchase more of gadgets and establish infra structue. This is quite evident in Andhra Pradesh

In such a situation the declarations by these politicians should be taken as a pinch of salt and such vague statements should be brought in the ambit of Lok Pal.
Wither they should not give such statements or if they give they should know the consequences of such statements.

Yet there is a solution to control cancer in a systematic way and that is by declaring cancer as a notifiable disease so that the cancer is detected, diagnosed at a grass root level by the primary health centre and then the arrangements for treatment and uprooting its cause are made e.g. tobacco elimination programs and public awareness programs on life style modifications .
Cancer kills more people then swine flue, dengue chikengunea or malaria.. But is not a notifiable disease.

The scenario for the cardiac disease is the same.