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How to find the Most Affordable Cancer Treatment in India?
By Raveena M Prakash
Cancer is a deadly and expensive disease to treat, and for many patients and their families, the diagnosis and cancer treatment costs can often be overwhelming to handle. However, finding an affordable cancer treatment in India is possible, and it's not out of reach. If you are concerned about your cancer treatment cost and want to get the best cancer treatment in India at an affordable price, then read further; this blog is for you!
In this article, we’ll discover more about different types of cancer treatment in Delhi, government, private, and mid-sized hospitals, a comparison of private cancer hospitals vs. government hospitals, and why to choose Oncare Cancer Center!
Govt. vs. Private Cancer Hospital: An Overall Comparison
Treatment costs and quality of treatments are essential before selecting a cancer hospital between government, private, and mid-sized hospitals for cancer treatment in Delhi.
Treatment costs
Government Cancer hospital
- The government hospital offers free and low-cost treatments for poor cancer patients.
- This hospital offers government schemes, including the Ayushman Bharat scheme (Ayushman card) and ECHS (Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme), to access cancer treatments.
Private (Corporate) Cancer Hospital
- The corporate hospital charges separate fees for diagnosis, medications, and advanced treatments.
- The overall cost of cancer treatments can cost up to 25 to 50 lakhs.
- It can only be affordable for high-income group patients.
Waiting period
Government Hospital, New Delhi
- In government hospitals, patients might experience a long period of waiting for a cancer specialist consultation.
- This is a huge challenge because cancer needs urgent consultation and timely attention and care.
Private hospital, New Delhi
- It offers fast consultation, fast test results, and sudden treatment initiation.
- It comes with expensive treatments that affect patients, which might delay the treatments.
Treatment facilities
Government Hospital
- Many government cancer hospitals in Delhi offer primary cancer treatments, but there are some limitations in terms of the availability of some advanced cancer treatments in the government hospitals in Delhi.
- Some specialized hospitals, like AIIMS, New Delhi, may have access to effective treatment options, such as robotic surgeries, and some may not have access to these treatments, like precision radiation therapies, and these are available in some locations or some centers. These are considered as drawbacks of government hospitals.
Private Hospital
- Many private hospitals in Delhi offer advanced treatment facilities such as advanced treatments, including targeted treatments, immunotherapy, and high-precision radiation treatments.
- All these advanced treatments cost more than normal, and these high-cost treatments often create financial challenges for many low-income group patients.
Availability of Experienced doctors
Government Hospital
- Government cancer hospitals in India might have the availability of experienced and skilled oncologists. However, due to the higher number of patients, the chance of getting a personal consultation might be a concern.
- If you get the consultation, the duration of consultation time can be limited, and you need to wait for weeks for another consultation. This might impact the early diagnosis and delay in starting necessary treatments; this can negatively impact the health of patients.
Private Hospital
- Private hospitals provide experienced oncologists with more availability and offer more personalized consultations, allowing more detailed treatment discussions and more personalized treatment plans.
- The personalized consultation and patient comfort might influence the overall treatment costs can go higher than many patients expect.
Financial assistance & support
Government Hospital
- Government hospitals in India offer various financial assistance to patients, especially cancer patients.
- If the patient has already registered in any government health insurance schemes such as the Ayushman scheme, this further helps to reduce treatment costs for the eligible patients.
Private Hospital
- Private hospitals might offer financial support through medical insurance claims and flexible treatment payments.
- If the patient has already registered with any NGOs, they might also provide financial assistance to cancer patients.
- However, if this financial support can help to reduce the financial burden, unfortunately not all patients might get assistance from it.
If you belong to low-income groups, consider government cancer hospitals, but they might come with long waiting hours for getting consultation and limited access to advanced treatments.
Factors Affecting Cancer Treatment Cost in Delhi
The cancer treatments in India can vary mainly depending on the variety of factors. Understanding these aspects can help you find affordable cancer treatments for you, which further helps you to plan your finances accordingly to select the right cancer hospital for your treatments.
Type of cancer and its stage
The type of cancer and its stage are often considered crucial to determining the overall cost of treatments. Patients with early-stage cancer need less aggressive treatments; this further leads to reducing the overall costs. In advanced-stage patients, patients may need several treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and targeted therapy, eventually increasing the overall costs.
Cancer hospital
The selected cancer hospital often influences the overall cost of your cancer treatments. If you choose any government hospital, it might offer low treatment costs along with several subsidies. This might often reduce the overall cost of cancer treatment, but you may need to wait long hours for consultation, diagnosis, and treatments.
In contrast, if you select any mid-sized private cancer hospital, such as Oncare Cancer Center, this might provide affordable cancer treatments, fast access to treatments, advanced treatment facilities, and more personalized care; this can eventually improve the quality of patients' lives.
Treatment plan and its duration
The severity of cancer and its duration of treatment majorly impact the overall cost of treatments. Patients in the early stages of cancer require surgery and radiation or chemotherapy, which eventually lowers the costs when compared with those who need a combination of treatments over a prolonged period.
Treatment facilities and infrastructure
The availability of advanced treatment facilities often influences treatment costs. While there are some diagnostic equipment and tools, precision radiation therapy and minimally invasive therapy can appear a bit costly. Some of Delhi’s government hospitals have limited access to specific treatment procedures, whereas some private hospitals invest in their treatment facilities and infrastructure developments, which results in overall expenses.
Medication and follow-up care
The cost of cancer treatments and other medication extends beyond the overall costs. Medications, including immunotherapy drugs and targeted therapy drugs, are often expensive in nature. However, follow-up and supportive care, including physiotherapy and post-surgery care, also add to the overall costs beyond the hospital type.
Hospital stay and Post treatment care
Extended hospital stays and post-treatment care can eventually add up to the overall costs. Government hospitals might charge lower fees, but still the patients need to arrange money for the post-treatment services. Private hospitals often provide some combined recovery services, patient support, and care units, which offer comfort but still add to the financial burden.
Why choose Oncare Cancer Center for your cancer treatments?
Oncare Cancer Center is a trusted and leading cancer hospital in India. Oncare is one of the best mid-sized hospitals highly dedicated to delivering the best cancer treatment in India. We understand that battling against cancer is not only about providing medical care. It’s about offering emotional support, affordability, and transparency in cancer treatments.
At Oncare, patients receive premium-quality treatments, personalized and evidence-based treatment plans suggested by experienced oncologists, along with a patient-friendly, compassionate environment.
Here are some of the features of Oncare:
- Expert Specialist Consultation
- Transparency
- Excellent patient care and support
- Affordable chemotherapy packages
- Affordable cancer surgeries
- Immunotherapy
- Radiotherapy
- Expert teleconsultation (joint consultation)
- CT/PET Scan
- Diagnosis
- Discounted cancer medicines
- Nutritional diet guidance
- Fast patient admission and discharge procedure(within 30 minutes)
Consult Today
Finding an affordable cancer treatment and cancer hospital might seem an impossible task, but still there's hope. There are many cancer hospitals that offer affordable and high-quality treatments in India. From government cancer hospitals in Delhi to the popular Oncare Cancer Center, these are some of the best hospitals that provide affordable, high-quality, transparent cancer treatments, personalized treatment plans, and experienced cancer specialist consultations to many cancer patients in India.
At Oncare, we understand the financial burdens and emotional distress associated with cancer treatments; that's why we offer affordable and transparent cancer treatments and personalized guidance to each cancer patient before the treatments.
If you or any loved ones of yours are having any symptoms of cancer or recently diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center today! Book an appointment with our cancer specialists today! Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several cancer hospitals, including AIIMS New Delhi, and some government hospitals offer free and affordable cancer treatments for cancer patients who can’t afford expensive cancer treatments. Oncare Cancer Center is another cancer hospital in Delhi that offers affordable cancer treatments for their cancer patients in India.
The average cost of chemotherapy treatments at Oncare Cancer Center in Delhi starts at 12,000 to 14,000 rupees per session. Meanwhile, in other corporate hospitals in India, the cost of chemotherapy starts from 25,000 to 40,000 rupees. However, the cost of chemotherapy treatments is often influenced by the type of cancer, stage of cancer, and duration and frequency of chemotherapy used in patients. Additionally, the cost of chemotherapy treatment is also impacted by the type of hospital, the specialist you are consulting, including their experience and demand, and its location.
Yes, several government hospitals, such as AIIMS, New Delhi, and private mid-sized hospitals, such as Oncare Cancer Center, New Delhi, offer affordable cancer treatments. But the majority of government cancer hospitals come with the disadvantages of long waiting hours and limited consultation time with experienced doctors. Oncare offers effective and advanced cancer treatments in affordable price packages without wasting long hours waiting in government hospitals.
The government of India offers financial support for cancer patients through their various financial aids, including Ayushman Bharat, ECHS, and RSBY.