Delhi Delhi. A study has found that enrolling under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) – India's national health insurance program – increased access to timely initiation of cancer treatment by 33 percent. Chandigarh Researchers at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) also found that under the scheme, among patients suffering from cancer after 2018, when the program was launched, the time was within 30 days. But the likelihood of starting treatment was 36 percent higher compared to patients diagnosed between 1995 and 2017.
The findings, published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia, showed “significant improvements in timely initiation of cancer treatment as a result of the introduction of PM-JAY”. ” analyzed the responses of nearly 6,700 cancer patients admitted between October 2020 and March 2022.
As part of the 'National Cancer Database for Cost and Quality of Life' protocol described in a study developed in 2018 and published in the British Medical Journal Open, patients were interviewed on aspects including health care costs and quality of life. Overall , the typical period after diagnosis before starting cancer treatment was found to be 20 days.
The researchers found that this period was longest in patients with head and neck cancer (29 days), followed by breast cancer patients (25 days) and shortest in patients with hematological cancers (11 days). also found an overall downward trend in the time taken before starting cancer treatment over some years, and “the slope of this decreasing trend was significantly greater among patients receiving benefits under AB PM-JAY”.
The authors said this suggests a greater likelihood of cancer patients starting treatment on time as a result of enrollment and attributed this to “the expansion of cancer care services under the National Major Insurance Programme.” The team also found That higher income people are less likely to delay starting timely treatment than lower income people.
According to the authors, this was “the first study to cover all types of cancer patients in a nationally representative sample.” They wrote, “Our study recommends expanding AB PM-JAY cancer packages to include cost-effective treatment. e-RUPI to be included, increase population coverage under screening programs and promote e-RUPI to reduce financial barriers associated with diagnostic services to remove delays in initiation of treatment due to unknown cancer stages.”
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