Post-pandemic, 30% more cancer patients treated at premier Mumbai institute

Post-coronavirus pandemic, a city-based premier cancer institute has reported 30 per cent more patients, many of them in advanced stages, a top official said on Saturday.

The reason could be the fear of visiting hospitals during the pandemic, doctors at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) said.

TMC Director Dr Rajendra Badwe said the institute treated 60 per cent of patients of its regular capacity during the coronavirus pandemic. As the COVID-19 cases have gone down significantly, patients are returning for treatment again.

“We are treating 30 per cent more patients. This means that 30 per cent of patients were not treated during the pandemic and they are now coming back. Some of them are not greatly advanced, but some of them are,” Dr Badwe told PTI.

He said the hospital is documenting such cases to understand the magnitude of cancer progression.

Waiting for two-three months may not make any difference, but waiting for a year or two would make a difference, Dr Badwe said.

During the pandemic, health services other than those related to coronavirus took a hit as the hospital infrastructure in the world and the country was overloaded due to the patient surge.

The TMC gets 80,000 new patients every year and 5,50,000 follow-ups. It operates nine cancer hospitals including the premiere Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.