Beyond Survival: India’s Push to Redefine Childhood Cancer Care
The conversation around childhood cancer in India is slowly evolving. What was once framed largely as a battle against mortality is now increasingly being viewed through the lens of systems, access and long-term survival. At events marking International Childhood Cancer Day, policymakers, doctors and advocates came together with a shared objective: raising childhood cancer survival rates to 60 per cent by 2030 — a target that signals both ambition and urgency.
For health officials, the challenge goes beyond medical treatment alone. Speaking at the gathering, Deputy Director General of Health Services L. Swasticharan emphasised that children diagnosed with cancer must not simply survive but go on to lead full lives, contributing to the nation’s wider development goals. While India does not yet have a dedicated national policy focused exclusively on childhood cancer, existing healthcare structures, he noted, offer room to expand financial support and treatment access for families navigating the disease.
The shift toward prioritising childhood cancer is increasingly visible at the state level. Nine states have signed agreements placing childhood cancer within their health agendas — a move seen as an encouraging sign of policy alignment across regions. Yet experts caution that meaningful progress will depend on how effectively hospitals, governments and civil society organisations work together to close persistent gaps in diagnosis, referral and financial coverage.
Data presented at the event by CanKids KidsCan reflected both progress and unfinished work. Access to care has reportedly doubled in recent years, rising from 27 per cent in 2019–20 to over 54 per cent in 2025. Behind these numbers are stories of earlier diagnoses, stronger support networks and families finding pathways to treatment that previously felt out of reach. The longer-term ambition now stretches toward universal access, complete financial protection and improved outcomes aligned with the World Health Organization Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer.
Oncologists at the event highlighted that survival rates are deeply tied to systemic efficiency. Professor Sameer Bakshi of All India Institute of Medical Sciences stressed that identifying more children within the healthcare system — and doing so earlier — remains one of the most immediate opportunities for improving outcomes. Early diagnosis, streamlined treatment pathways and better coordination between institutions, he argued, could significantly raise national survival figures.
Advocates also underlined the importance of perception. Poonam Bagai, founder of CanKids KidsCan and member of the ICMR Central Ethics Committee, spoke about the need for society to see childhood cancer not as an inevitability but as a treatable condition. Building trust in healthcare systems, she said, is as important as policy reform itself — especially in communities where stigma and delayed diagnosis continue to affect survival rates.
The event reflected an evolving ecosystem of support, with policymakers, corporate leaders and financial institutions recognising that sustained funding and collaboration will be essential to long-term change. Awards honouring childhood cancer survivors, including doctor Tanveer Ahmed and sports climber Shivani Charak, served as reminders of what improved systems can make possible.
As India moves toward its 2030 target, the story of childhood cancer care is no longer only about treatment — it is about building networks that ensure children reach hospitals sooner, families face fewer financial barriers, and survival becomes an expectation rather than an exception. The path ahead is complex, but the direction is clearer than ever: a healthcare system that leaves no child behind.
