The facts were revealed during the conference titled “Cancer care: chemotherapy, communication, research and beyond”, being organised by Medical Oncology Unit at the Christian Medical College and Hospital, which began here today.

The workshops at CMCH over a period of three days are being held in collaboration with the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia, Cancer Council Australia and the Pam McLean Institute at Sydney.

Dr Rohit Joshi, head of the unit, said more than one million cases of cancer were detected each year and at any given time there would be approximately 3-5 million cancer patients in India. A very large bulk of cancer cases are attributed to tobacco and smoking. Most Indian patients with cancer go to a specialist doctor at a relatively advanced stage — when the cancer may not be curable.

“The majority of Indian cancer patients do not have access to good cancer care in terms of international guidelines-based surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy.”

The conference has multiple hours of communication skills, workshops where doctors and nurses are trained to communicate better with patients and families.

Among the prominent delegates are Dr Sid Selva and Dr Ian Olver, who are the main facilitators for the Communication Skills workshop along with Dr Rohit Joshi and the actors. In addition, Prof David Currow, who is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Australia, has also been invited to CMCH for the conference in collaboration with the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC), the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) and Cancer Council, Australia.

GB meeting held