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| − | ==Ratan Tata’s contribution==
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| − | [https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=20_10_2024_026_008_cap_TOI Lata Mishra, Oct 20, 2024: ''The Times of India'']
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| − | One of Ratan Tata’s most enduring legacies is his pivotal contribution to cancer care in India — a cause he championed throughout his career. The leadership of the late Tata Sons chairman played a key role in the expansion of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, powering its emergence as one of India’s premier institutions for cancer research and treatment.
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Those close to Ratan Tata recall how profoundly he was affected when his mother, Soonoo Tata, was diagnosed with cancer in 1982, just three years after he became the head of Tata Industries. This experience influenced his lifelong dedication to improving cancer care in India.
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Throughout his career, he spoke about the country’s worrying cancer statistics: over 70% of cases diagnosed at advanced stages, severely limiting the chances of successful treatment. Determined to change this, he set an ambitious target — to reverse the diagnosis ratio from 30:70 to 70:30. To achieve this, Ratan Tata spearheaded, through Tata Trusts, the creation of a vast network of cancer care centres, daycare facilities, and screening kiosks across India. These facilities were designed not only to treat cancer but also to facilitate early detection, particularly in underserved areas where access to healthcare was limited.
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One of the cornerstones of Ratan Tata’s initiative was integrating these services into govt insurance schemes, which aimed to eliminate financial barriers that often deter people from seeking timely treatment. This approach was a game changer in India’s healthcare landscape, making cancer screening and treatment more accessible and affordable for millions of people.
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Early this year, the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai also made a significant breakthrough in cancer treatment research. After a decade of dedicated work by re- searchers and doctors, the institute announced the discovery of a tablet designed to prevent cancer recurrence. This tablet, costing just Rs 100, promises to reduce the side effects from traditional treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy by nearly 50%, offering an affordable solution for patients undergoing cancer therapy.
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| − | ''' A ‘Spearhead’ In Cancer Fight '''
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The Tata Memorial Hospital was initially commissioned by JRD Tata, a trustee of Dorabji Tata Trust, on Feb 28, 1941. At the opening ceremony, Roger Lumley, then governor of Bombay, predicted that the hospital would serve as the “spearhead of the attack on cancer in this country”. He saw it as a critical centre for disseminating advanced cancer care knowledge across India. In 1961, the hospital was transferred to the Department of Atomic Energy, marking a new phase in its development.
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Originally an 80-bed facility occupying 15,000 sq.m in Parel and with a modest annual budget of Rs 5 lakh, it has since transformed into Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), one of Asia’s largest cancer hospitals.
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| − | Today, TMC boasts 1,150 beds and its annual budget exceeds Rs 300 crore. Despite this growth, the hospital continues to face challenges as the increasing number of cancer cases and the steady influx of patients strain its resources. Over 60% of TMC’s patients receive free or highly subsidised treatment, earning it a reputation as a “temple” for families in need of affordable care.
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| − | However, the overwhelming demand often leads to long waitlists, and many patients, especially those from low-income backgrounds, abandon treatment midway due to the prohibitive cost of staying in Mumbai.
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Recognising this challenge, Dr Rajendra Badwe, TMC’s former director, tells TOI how he would frequently discuss with Ratan Tata the urgent need to establish more cancer care centres across the country. Those conversations sparked the expansion of TMC’s model to new regions, addressing gaps in access to quality cancer treatment in India.
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| − | ''' Stress On Research, Training '''
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Mammen Chandy, former director of Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata, shared his insights with a TV news channel on the impact of Ratan Tata’s vision and leadership on cancer care. “During his visits to the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Mr Tata noticed the high number of patients from eastern India. He would often comment, ‘don’t they have facilities in eastern India’, and that’s what prompted him to conceive [of TMC] in 2005,” he said.
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On May 16, 2011, Ratan Tata inaugurated the Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata. According to Chandy, one of the centre’s standout achievements is its state-of-the-art infrastructure, which he likens to a Scandinavian research facility. Recalling Ratan Tata’s unwavering support, Chandy shared, “I once requested Rs 10 crore for labs, and it was sanctioned without hesitation.”
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| − | He added that Ratan Tata consistently emphasised that Tata Medical Centre should go beyond patient care to become a hub for research and education. “He believed the hospital should also be a teaching and training institute for cancer treatment,” Chandy said.
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| − | ''' Going All Out '''
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In 2017, Ratan Tata, through Tata Trusts, pledged Rs 1,000 crore to enhance affordable cancer treatment across India. This initiative, overseen personally by him, established and upgraded cancer-care centres in five states — Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Assam — modelled on the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.
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| − | The new and upgraded facilities significantly improved access to cancer treatment and helped alleviate the burden on Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, by offering local and affordable treatment options across India.
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The Assam Cancer Care Foundation, a collaboration between Assam govt and Tata Trusts, was initiated around 2017 as part of a broader strategy to create a cancer care grid in the region.
Tata Trusts also invested nearly Rs 600 crore in two cancer hospitals in Varanasi, which were set up in 2018, with Tata Memorial taking over operations shortly thereafter.
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In 2017, the Tirupati Balaji Temple Trust provided 25 acres for the creation of a new cancer hospital in Tirupati. Tata Trusts collaborated on the project, ensuring the facility helps have state-of-the-art infrastructure and be accessible to people from surrounding regions.
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In 2018, 23.5 acres were allotted for Ranchi Cancer Hospital and Research Centre following Ratan Tata’s push to expand cancer care infrastructure.
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| − | ''' ‘A Pivotal Role’ '''
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In an interview with TOI, Dr Sudeep Gupta, director of Tata Memorial Centre, emphasised Ratan Tata’s profound and lasting impact on cancer care in India. “At Tata Memorial, we witnessed his commitment first hand. He played a pivotal role in establishing hospitals in underserved regions, ensuring quality cancer care reached areas where it was historically limited.”
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| − | In their final meeting in May this year, Gupta says he discussed expanding cancer care training across India with Ratan Tata, who fully supported the plan. “Mr Tata backed a project to train doctors, nurses, and technicians, with the Tata Steel Foundation contributing Rs 250 crore to the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Odisha.”
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Gupta also highlighted the financial contributions of Tata Trusts, which have invested around Rs 1,500 crore to establish 11 Tata Memorial Centres, with two new ones underway in Odisha and Muzaffarpur. “We now have a capacity of 2,400 beds nationwide,” he said.
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Reflecting on Ratan Tata’s passion for cancer research, Gupta recalled his enthusiasm for ongoing work at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Mumbai, and his concern about rising cancer cases. “Even though he’s no longer with us, I’m confident Tata Trusts will continue his vision for advancing cancer care,” Gupta said.
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| | =The Navya online service= | | =The Navya online service= |
A low-cost online service run by Tata Memorial Hospital doctors has helped 10,799 patients from 22 countries get a second opinion on their cancer diagnosis and a treatment plan without visiting the hospital in three years.
A survey of about a 1,000 of them showed that as much as 78% of them went on to receive treatment according to the expert's opinion. The doctors presented their experiment with Navya, the online service, at the prestigious American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on June 5.
“There is a scarcity of on cologists in the world. Patients in non-urban areas have poor access to evidence-based treatment decision and worse outcomes. In India, there are 1,600 oncologists for 1.8 million patients and the lack of expertise translates into sub-optimal and expensive treatment decisions,“ said Dr C S Pramesh of the cancer hospital.
The survey revealed that 72.3% interviewed patients shared the expert opinion with their treating oncologists. And, 78% of the patients got treatment based on expert's recommendations.
The demand-supply gap in cancer treatment is obvious from the fact that the Parel hos pital gets thousands of patients every day from across the country . To plug this gap, the hospital joined hands with Navya in 2014 to provide online second opinion so that patients and their families don't have to travel thousands of kilometres for an opinion. A fee of Rs 6,000 is charged for using the service. The doctors don't charge for an opinion, the fee is for daily operations.
At present, 90 doctors from the Department of Atomic Energy-supported National Cancer Grid (NCG) are experts on the Navya panel. Around 100 hospitals that provide cancer treatment across the country are part of the grid.
