On World Cancer Day 2022, Samara Mahindra, Founder and CEO, CARER expands on how CARER’s unique patient-centric approach spreads cancer awareness and bridges the care gap
The Covid-19 pandemic has deepened health inequities and created an even greater need for action to mitigate the adverse impact on people diagnosed with Cancer. Unfortunately, we live in a world where wealth determines access to high-quality medical care and treatment. In India socio-economic factors, stigma, discrimination, and other factors prevent patients from receiving timely, accurate diagnoses and such factors lead to broad discrepancies. Cancer, which is now the leading cause of death globally, is known as the “rich man’s disease” and this is because of the exorbitant investment towards cancer treatment that is incurred by millions annually. While the statement holds the reality is otherwise. Cancer doesn’t discriminate between genders, age, or income brackets. It has and continues to affect everyone, with a rapid rise in cases amongst India’s rural population. While ethically, every person should have the right to good medical treatment and quality care that gives them the best chance for survival, we have a long way to achieve this equality in India.
Having said that, many young companies are disrupting the healthcare ecosystem with conscious efforts in providing affordable treatment and care for cancer, closing the care gap.
According to the National Cancer Registry Programme, India, 2020 showcased that there will be a 12per cent increase in cancer cases in India by 2025. The report also revealed that the most common were associated with the lung, mouth, stomach, and oesophagus, whereas the most common cancers in women were associated with the breast and cervix uteri.
CARER is doing its bit to provide the healing touch here. An integrative oncology service that provides personalised and holistic cancer care to patients through the help of oncologists. Today, our digitally run nutrition led cancer interventions that focus on providing quality care and improvements in cancer treatment and recovery, has made affordability and high-quality care management accessible to everyone, no matter the background. Providing our digitised solution to multiple healthcare entities such as non-profit organisations or government hospitals that treat the underprivileged, patients can manage their treatment better and improve their quality of life with personalised interventions from CARER, as we handhold them through their cancer journey.
Over 90 per cent of cancer cases are lifestyle-related, allowing us to safely say that cancer has become a lifestyle disease and those who are getting treated for cancer, need to treat their lifestyle as well. CARER’s unique personalised nutrition technology provides patients with an Onco Clinical Nutritionist and doctors. With customised nutritional and integrative programs, that are practical and tailored to every cancer patient’s need, based on scientific research, multiple data points and proven studies to manage treatment side effects, improve recovery, adherence, survival, overall quality of care and a substantial decrease in healthcare costs. CARER’s digital solutions reach all income brackets and allow patients to get high-quality care, a basic human right.
The campaign for World Cancer Day 2022 #CloseTheCareGap is much more than a hashtag but one which needs to be implemented at the grassroots level, closing the care gap should be about equality, recognising disparities, so that each citizen is allowed to lead longer lives in better health. I encourage all the policymakers and stakeholders in the field of oncology who are solving healthcare problems, to make equal care for all a part of their solution.
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