India’s cancer burden grows as a new NAMS report exposes critical gaps in early diagnosis, accessibility, and infrastructure—threatening survival outcomes nationwide.
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“We Can’t Treat What We Don’t Detect”: NAMS Report Uncovers India’s Deepening Cancer Diagnosis Crisis
New Delhi | May 27, 2025 — As India races to modernize its healthcare system, a new report from the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) has sounded the alarm on one of the most pressing threats to public health—the lack of adequate diagnostic services in cancer care. Despite rising awareness and improved therapies, the country’s ability to detect cancer early remains fractured, especially in rural and tier-2 cities.
Released this week, the report is the culmination of a two-year nationwide study involving over 120 oncology centers, community health hubs, and medical colleges. It outlines systemic deficiencies that continue to jeopardize survival rates, deepen inequality in access to care, and put immense pressure on tertiary hospitals.
NAMS Report Reveals Alarming Gap in Cancer Diagnostics Across India
Who, What, When — A National Reality Check
India currently records over 14 lakh (1.4 million) new cancer cases annually, with the number expected to double by 2040. According to NAMS, the majority of these cases are still being detected in Stage III or IV, when treatment becomes costlier, more invasive, and significantly less effective.
“The problem isn’t just late diagnosis—it’s missed diagnosis,” said Dr. Renu Narang, co-author of the report and oncologist at PGIMER, Chandigarh. “By the time many patients reach us, the window for early intervention has closed.”
The report criticizes the fragmented infrastructure that dominates the diagnostic chain—from insufficient imaging equipment (PET-CT, MRI) and biopsy delays to poorly trained technicians and lack of standardized protocols.
Why It Matters: Cancer’s Hidden Cost in India
While treatment breakthroughs like immunotherapy and precision medicine are making headlines, diagnostics remain the weakest link. This is especially damaging in cancers that are highly treatable when detected early—like cervical, breast, and colorectal cancer.
In states like Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh, NAMS found that less than 30% of district hospitals had functional pathology labs equipped for oncology-related histopathology, cytology, or molecular screening. Worse still, nuclear medicine departments were practically absent outside metro cities.
The economic burden is stark. Patients often travel hundreds of kilometers for a PET scan or biopsy, losing crucial days, wages, and sometimes their lives.
How India’s Healthcare System is Responding
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has acknowledged the gaps and reiterated its commitment to strengthen India’s Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (AB-HIM). But implementation remains inconsistent.
“We’ve launched early detection camps and public-private partnerships, but scaling them to every district remains a challenge,” said an official from the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP).
To improve outcomes, NAMS recommends:
Diagnostic hubs in each district with minimum imaging and pathology facilities
Mobile diagnostic vans for remote regions
Telepathology and AI-based screening tools integrated into primary health centers
Oncology training for general physicians and paramedical staff
A centralized digital cancer registry to track diagnostic delays and outcomes
Judging the Progress: What Experts Say
Health policy experts say the findings reflect a broader truth about India’s public health architecture: even when the intent is robust, the execution is sporadic.
Dr. Shalini Mehta, former Director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar and an advisor on rural oncology, weighed in:
“You can’t fight cancer with chemotherapy alone. Early-stage detection is a miracle in itself, but only if people can access it. We need policy action with speed and scale.”
Stories from the Ground: Real Faces of Delayed Diagnosis
In Kanpur, 42-year-old Rajeshwari Devi discovered she had breast cancer after six months of pain and misdiagnosis. "The local clinic gave me antibiotics. I had to borrow money to get scanned in Delhi," she recalls.
In Assam’s Barak Valley, 19-year-old Mohammed Faisal succumbed to lymphoma before his biopsy results arrived from Guwahati—three weeks after the sample was taken.
These are not isolated cases; they represent thousands of lives caught in bureaucratic and infrastructural bottlenecks.
The Role of Technology and Innovation
The report underscores the potential of AI-driven diagnostic tools, pointing to pilot projects like Tata Trusts’ AI-based oral cancer screening, which showed 88% accuracy in early lesion detection.
Additionally, startups like OncoTech and MedSca are building portable biopsy kits and image analysis software that can be used even in primary health centers. But without government integration into public health policy, these innovations remain in silos.
Conclusion: Will 2025 Be a Turning Point?
India is at a crossroads. With its massive population and rising cancer incidence, the country cannot afford to treat diagnostics as an afterthought. The NAMS report serves as both a warning and a roadmap—calling on policymakers, healthcare providers, and innovators to bridge a life-threatening gap.
As the world looks to India as an emerging leader in affordable healthcare, how it responds to this internal crisis may well define its credibility on the global health stage.
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