How some Indian hospitals are cutting cancer drug costs

Scores of patients quietly fill a modest tin shed which serves as a waiting area at a cancer hospital in Silchar, in north-eastern India.

Over the last few months, Cachar Cancer Centre in the state of Assam has seen an unusually high number of patients from nearby towns and villages.

The reason: a quiet revolution that is making cancer drugs more affordable.

The hospital is part of the National Cancer Grid, a group of treatment centres that have clubbed together to bulk buy drugs and bring down costs by more than 85%.

It is a modest start but, literally, a lifesaver for some of the country's poorest people.

Expensive, protracted treatments often put families under immense financial strain or are simply out of reach.

For example, breast cancer treatments can extend for over 10 cycles and cost more than $6,000 (£4,719). In a country where the average monthly salary is less than $700, that is beyond many household budgets.

Baby Nandi, 58, is waiting for her next chemotherapy session at the Cachar hospital clinic. Previously, she had to travel 2,000km (1,242 miles) for breast cancer treatment. The drugs alone cost $650 for one treatment cycle. She needed six cycles. Along with the travel and accommodation costs, her family's finances were pushed to the brink.

Thanks to the new initiative, those drugs are now available in her home city, Silchar, at a third of the cost.

Baby's husband Narayan Nandi said: "We don't have so much money at a go. I had to sell land and borrow from my relatives to take her to Chennai. At least now we can afford her full treatment and be home."

Nearly two million cancer cases are reported a year in India, but consultancy firm EY says that the actual figure could be up to three times as high.

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