Exclusive budget for screening and detection of cancer likely in state

SHILLONG, Feb 13: The state government on Tuesday hinted at the possibility of earmarking an exclusive budgetary allocation towards early detection and screening of cancer in the state.
Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Ram Kumar S hinted to the exclusive budget while speaking at a panel discussion “Health Insurance for Cancer Care” on the concluding day of the Meghalaya Cancer Conclave 2024.
The concluding day of the conclave had its eyes on early screening and detection, which was validated by Kumar, who said, that if the government spends Rs 1 towards preventive care, they save around Rs 6-7 rupees in curative care, and that is why there needs to be more investment in preventive care.
Responding to suggestions for including cancer detection and screening packages in the Megha Health Insurance Scheme, Kumar said, “The MHIS packages are always a work in progress.”
Kumar also busted the myth about people not registering for the MHIS, and said that almost 5.5 lakh households out of the targetted 7 lakh in the state have MHIS cards and the total number of MHIS beneficiaries in the state stands at 18.18 lakh. The panel discussion focused on the problems faced by the nodal officers in various hospitals, and also on how the MHIS can be tweaked to offer better packages, especially for cancer patients in the state.
Kumar also said that the state’s MHIS card is one of the best in the country, and that Meghalaya is the only state that spends around 8.7 per cent of its budget on healthcare.
He said the government is striving to further improve this number, and take it up to around 9 per cent in this year’s budget.
He also said that the number of MHIS beneficiaries have almost doubled this year, with around 1.8 lakh claims, out of which around 5,024 cases were cancer related.
The total settlement made under these claim comes to around Rs 12 crore, he added.