NEW DELHI: More than 68 lakh cancer treatments worth over Rs 13,000 crore have been performed under the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme, with 76% of them undertaken in rural areas, Union health minister J P Nadda said on Tuesday.
Of these, more than 4.5 lakh treatments worth over Rs 985 crore were undertaken for “targeted therapies” against cancer, with 76% of their beneficiaries coming from rural areas, Nadda said responding to a question in Parliament. The benefits, Nadda said, were accorded under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
In PMJAY, treatment for several types of cancers, including breast, oral and cervical, is provided under more than 200 packages with more than 500 procedures of medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology and palliative medicine.
Of these, 37 packages are related to targeted therapies such as chemotherapy for CA Breast, metastatic melanoma, chronic myeloid leukaemia, Burkitt’s Lymphoma, and CA Lung, the minister informed. Those suffering from cancer and below the poverty line can also avail themselves of one-time financial assistance of up to Rs 15 lakh, provided under the Health Minister’s Cancer Patient Fund (HMCPF).
The minister said that the scheme provides for the sale of generic medicines at 50-80% price of branded medicines through Jan Aushadhi Stores and the 217 AMRIT Pharmacies. A total of 289 oncology drugs are given at half the market price. Nadda said that the government had in the budget announced it would set up 200 daycare cancer centres at district hospitals in 2025-26.
In addition, 19 state cancer institutes and 20 tertiary cancer care centres have been set up in different parts of the country to provide advanced cancer care.
