Treating children with cancer poses not only a health challenge but also a serious economic and social crisis for their families. A new study by AIIMS Delhi has revealed that a significant number of children with cancer die during treatment…

Treating children with cancer poses not only a health challenge but also a serious economic and social crisis for their families. A new study by AIIMS Delhi has revealed that a large number of families are losing their jobs, savings, and even property during the treatment of children with cancer. Many parents are forced to travel far from their hometown for treatment, impacting both their livelihoods and their children’s education.

Every fourth family faces an unemployment crisis. A study conducted by Rotary Cancer Hospital, an institute of AIIMS, found that 26.6% of parents lost their jobs during their child’s treatment.

Meanwhile, 77.1% of families were forced to move to other cities due to lack of access to treatment in their hometown, further exacerbating their economic and social hardships. According to the study, 26.8% of families had to sell their movable and immovable assets to cover the cost of treatment. Of these, 12% sold land and 9.4% sold jewelry. Additionally, 47.4% of families spent their entire savings on treatment, while 27% of parents had to borrow from relatives. 

Treatment cost lakhs of rupees .

On average, 50.9% of the children included in the study spent around three lakh rupees on treatment. This study was conducted by AIIMS doctors on 1,048 children with cancer and their families. 66.4% of the children were from urban areas and 33.6% from rural areas. 55.7% lived more than 100 kilometers from the hospital. This research has been published in the JCO Global Oncology Journal. The challenge persists abroad as well. The study revealed that this problem is not limited to India. In the US, parents receive 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for their children with cancer. In Japan, approximately two-thirds of mothers have to leave their jobs or take extended leave. Government schemes are providing support. Schemes like the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, and the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund are helpful for cancer patients. However, the study also mentioned that the Arogya Kosh scheme of the Delhi government does not release funds to AIIMS, due to which many patients face difficulties. Along with treatment, children’s education is also affected. According to the report, 18% children received assistance for treatment from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 4.8% from government schemes and 1.5% from insurance. The relief is that the recovery rate of cancer in children is more than 80%. However, during treatment, the education of 85% children was disrupted and 3.1% children could not return to school even after recovery.

PC: Punjab Kesari