{"id":318,"date":"2022-02-04T07:30:17","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T07:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/?p=318"},"modified":"2025-12-31T09:24:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:24:17","slug":"closing-the-gap-in-cancer-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/2022\/02\/04\/closing-the-gap-in-cancer-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing the gap in Cancer care"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<p><span lang=\"en-IN\" style=\"color: #000000;\">February 4 is not just another date in the calendar. It\u2019s World Cancer Day, the day when we all come together to contribute to a change in our little ways. <em>\u201cThe butterfly effect refers to the fact that an action, as insignificant as a butterfly flapping its wings can ultimately result in a typhoon halfway around the world!\u201d &#8211; The Chaos Theory<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Empowering, isn\u2019t it? The advent of Covid-19 taught us one thing \u2013 we are stronger when together and each one of us is capable of bringing about a change. It has also shown us that, collectively, we can fight any disease, even Cancer. World Cancer Day is about spreading cancer awareness but more importantly, it is about getting the whole community involved in a fight against it. Small efforts can go a long way in overcoming the barriers of early detection, treatment and care for the patients.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The magnitude of the problem<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> A report by the National Cancer Registry Programme, India cites that about 1.4 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in India in 2021 alone. That is twice the number of Covid-19 cases in the state of Telangana alone over the past two years!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>How do we curb this growth year on year? <\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 1. Follow a healthy lifestyle: Exercise every day and eat right.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 2. Stop smoking and encourage everyone around you to do the same.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 3. Stay away from tobacco, smoke or smokeless.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 4. Control your drinking and never mix alcohol with smoking.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 5. Be conscious of the environment where you work and live; it should be free of pollutants.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 6. Get a regular health check-up, especially if you are above 50 years of age.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 7. If you have a family history of breast, ovary, stomach, colon or any such cancer, get yourself screened regularly. All you need is half a day, once a year.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 8. Educate your family, friends, and community that cancer is not a death sentence. More than 70 per cent of cases are curable if detected early. Remember that a normal life after cancer treatment is possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>What can you do?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> All efforts, minor or major, can help spread the awareness around Cancer treatment and push people to shed their inhibitions and reach out for help. An effort as small as sharing a social media post can give someone a second chance at life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>World Cancer Day 2022<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> The theme for this year\u2019s World Cancer Day is \u2018Close the care gap\u2019. Inequality exists in healthcare everywhere around the world and more so in a country like ours. When compared with the West, about 80 per cent of cancer cases are detected in late stages in India, which leads to the highest death rates. This can be explained through the inadequacy of the 5As of healthcare (accessibility, affordability, acceptability, approachability, and appropriateness) in Cancer treatment. Even though many private players are delivering the highest quality of care at the best cure rates and with the latest treatment protocols and technology, inaccessibility, unaffordability and unacceptability by the majority of the Indian population \u2013 middle-class and rural \u2013 remain some of the major challenges on ground.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The way forward<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> The use of information technology, the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence and uberisation of care can help make the treatment available to the patients at their fingertips. Through telehealth, a qualified oncologist can consult patients and treat them remotely even in the most remote and inaccessible areas. I believe a location-based service for Cancer care where care is made available to the patient at a hospital near them instead of them going to the hospital can work wonders in curbing the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: left;\"><span lang=\"en-IN\" style=\"color: #000000;\">This World Cancer Day, let us join hands and #closethecaregap through our small actions and defeat Cancer. Together we can, and we will conquer it!<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><strong>This article is authored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/drvijaykaranreddy\/\">Dr. Vijay Karan Reddy<\/a>,\u00a0Consultant, Apollo Cancer Institute &amp; AMPH Co 2022 student and edited by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/vandanayadav15\/\">Vandana Yadav<\/a>, Manager, Max Institute of Healthcare Management, Indian School of Business.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 4 is not just another date in the calendar. It\u2019s World Cancer Day, the day when we all come together to contribute to a change in our little ways. \u201cThe butterfly effect refers to the fact that an action, as insignificant as a butterfly flapping its wings can ultimately result in a typhoon halfway [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[12,16,42],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Closing the gap in Cancer care - Max Institute of Healthcare Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.isb.edu\/healthcare\/2022\/02\/04\/closing-the-gap-in-cancer-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Closing the gap in Cancer care - Max Institute of Healthcare Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 4 is not just another date in the calendar. 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