With the surging cases and pandemic not dying down, the healthcare industry has faced a rapid change in its services. Indian cancer care sector has also been impacted severely with 70% of the cancer patients living in rural and semi-rural areas while 95% of the treatment centers are located in urban spaces. As per Government data 4. 5 million Indians have cancer and are undergoing treatment with around 1.5 million new cases identified every year. According to several reports, India’s cancer number is expected to rise further from 1.39 million to 1.57 million in 2025 out of which tobacco-related malignancies will account for 27.7% of all cases.

The barriers to treatment are lack of skilled healthcare staff, low cancer detection rate, and fear and social stigma associated with it. Technology has touched every nook and cranny of the healthcare sector such as telemedicine enabling communication and consultation to the most remote part of the nation. However, the skilled staff present in the sector are in the proportion of 2.28 doctors per 10,000 patients. While highly equipped multi-specialty cancer hospitals are available, they are often expensive for a common man.

The general hospital on the other hand lacks the basic cancer treatment facilities resulting in a low cancer detection rate. The patient’s lack of awareness and hesitation to initiate and manage a treatment is aggravated by their anxiety about social stigma, poor understanding of the disease, and fear of deformities, discouraging family, and the cost of the regimen. Thus, most of them turn to traditional or herbal therapy, and by the time they consult an oncologist, the disease is accelerated beyond curable stages.