Cancer may have started the fight but the Maharashtra government is determined to finish it. Ahead of World health day, the state’s government announced the launch of an initiative to provide free chemotherapy to patients in district hospitals. Launching in June, the first phase of the initiative will target 10 district hospitals, located in Nagpur, Pune, Jalgaon, Gadchiroli, Nashik, Satara, Amravati, Akola, Bhandara and Wardha.

Ahead of the launch physicians and nurses from each of these district hospitals would be given a three-week training by the Medical Oncology Department of Tata Memorial. While the initiative will reduce the cost incurred in transportation, treatment, and accommodation for the ailing patients, it will also ease the burden of excess patients from Tata Memorial Hospital. Providing a six-week Chemo course, Tata Memorial treats 70,000 ailing patients every year.

According to the National Cancer Registry Program, around 11 lakh people across the nation are diagnosed with cancer every passing year and with the existing patients, the number rises to 28 lakhs. This initiative will hopefully reduce the number of cancer deaths and provide relief to many financially weak patients.

While the state reached out to about one crore people through their screening campaign for oral cancer in December 2017, the state plans to cover the rest of the district hospitals in its second phase. The training for the first batch will start in May and the initiative will launch in June.