Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there are chances of approximately 1,00,000 cancer cases going undiagnosed per month in India, and the numbers might change depending on travel restrictions and lack of easy availability of transport, as per a paper published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing.
The paper–Cancer care delivery challenges in India during the covid 19 Era: Are We Prepared for the post-pandemic shock?–inferred that the pandemic will eventually lead to disease progression in cancer patients, diagnosis at an advanced stage, and thus will have adverse impact on patient outcomes.
It has been jointly written by doctors from All India institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital (SSK) Hospital, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research and researchers from USA and UK.
The paper has highlighted that most cancer patients living in rural areas are normally required to move to big cities to receive proper treatment.
Nationwide lockdowns, imposed late March to curb the spread of the pandemic, disrupted cancer care delivery services, which led to delays in diagnosis or treatment initiation and treatment interruptions or rescheduling, resulting in progression of disease and poor survival.
Post pandemic cancer care is also expected to be a major challenge for oncologists given the increasing number of cancer patients awaiting to resume or start treatment in a strained health care system, the paper said.
