With Hospitals Solely Focussed on COVID-19, Cancer Patients Left in the Lurch

Until last year, Irfan Ali ran a successful business delivering cargo for Amazon. He was confident that he would ensure a good life for his family of eight members including brothers, sisters and his children. It was all going according to his plan until he was informed that he had developed symptoms of oral cancer.

A year later, his family had lost it all; their house, a fleet of cars and their savings. Despite losing all their assets, the family is unsure if they will still be able to save him. Ali was diagnosed at the Delhi State Cancer Institute a year prior to the lockdown in March this year. The lockdown came with the suspension of treatment in all major medical establishments and left thousands of cancer patients without counselling and treatment.

Mohammad Aquil, Irfan’s brother, said that the lockdown has forced them to wait for the eventuality of his death in the absence of treatment. He told NewsClick that his brother’s treatment at the Delhi State Cancer Institute was suspended “arbitrarily, without considering the condition of existing patients. We tried to get him admitted to several private hospitals but none of them were ready to take him in. When we heard that the government had begun OPD facilities, we took him back to the institute but the doctors were very reluctant. They asked us for symptoms and sent him back with a syrup for acidity. What he needs are chemotherapy sessions and what was handed to him was a bottle of syrup,” he said.

But the disease is not only the obstacle the family has been coping with. They are also battling hunger. “My family is completely dependent on ration provided by others. We had applied for e-coupons for ration provided by the Delhi Government a month ago but we have not received the ration. I had never imagined that we will go through these days,” he added.

Kajal, the daughter of another cancer patient, hada similar story. Her father was released from the Lok Narayan Jai Prakash Hospital without any alternative arrangements after the Centre announced a nationwide lockdown. Soon, the Delhi Government declared the facility as a dedicated hospital for COVID-19 patients.

Kajal told NewsClick that her father worked at a plastic factory in Karawal Nagar and was the sole bread winner for the family. She said the hospital authorities told them to get him treated at another hospital. “He had been waiting for his chemotherapy sessions in March. We took him to other hospitals including G.B. Pant Hospital “but nobody was willing to attend to him, let alone admitting him. When our options were exhausted, we brought him home. His condition has deteriorated now,” she said.

Kajal mentioned that a social activist had suggested treatment at a leading private hospital through EWS quota. “The doctors say that the infection has spread to his lower body, including to his kidneys. Had he received treatment earlier, his chances of recovery were high. Now, we do not know,” she added.

As per estimates by the Indian Council of Medical Reasearch, India adds 16 lakh cancer patients per year while 8 lakh people lose their lives to the disease every year.

Leading Oncologist Abhishek Shankar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Lady Hardinge Medical College and SSK Hospital in Delhi, suggested that doctors are struggling to deliver cancer care to patients.

Speaking to NewsClick, he said that oncologists in India are treating almost 45 lakh patients at any given point in time. “Of these patients, the average time for treatment is six months but for the last three months, they have not been receiving treatment,” he said. Dr. Shankar mentioned that about 95% of cancer hospitals are in urban areas while 70% of the patients were from rural areas.

“For access to treatment, the patient needs to travel to urban areas along with their family members and this is what hurts them most. Aside from the expenses on medicine and stay, the cost of travel pushes vulnerable families below the poverty line,” he said. Dr. Shankar added that with a lockdown in place, thousands of patients are missing their medicines and consultations.

On the question of the efficacy of tele-medicine in the times of COVID-19, he said that telemedicine helps one to connect with patients “but these patients need a range of services ranging from chemotherapy to surgeries and it needs consultation among doctors.”