Cancer patients from economically weaker backgrounds are often forced to stop the treatment midway because of hidden costs, said a doctor and representatives of NGOs who work with cancer patients.

The hidden costs include travelling to the city where the hospital is located and staying in a hotel or a rented accommodation for the duration of the treatment, the doctors and the NGO representatives said.

Cancer treatment is long drawn, continuing for months, when a patient is in and out of hospital for various procedures such as radiation and chemotherapy.

Government schemes fund the treatment of most poor patients suffering from cancer, but the hidden costs often force families to discontinue the therapy midway, said an oncologist.

“An individual might be getting the treatment for free through government schemes but the families are unable to bear the hidden costs. If they are from districts, they need to pay for the train travel and at times have to stay back for the treatment, which involves additional expenses for the person accompanying the patient,” said Subir Ganguly, a radiation oncologist at Medica Superspecialty Hospital.

“They have to bear the cost of the food. Sometimes, their trip to the city is in vain because the doctor they are consulting is absent. These are the costs that many cannot afford and so they leave the treatment midway.”

Medica Superspecialty Hospital on Thursday hosted a panel discussion on the role of NGOs in making modern cancer treatment at private facilities more accessible to economically disadvantaged patients. The programme was organised on the occasion of National Cancer Awareness Day (November 7).

Cance treatment is a double whammy for those who are daily wage earners, Ganguly said.

“As it is, it is a struggle for a person subsisting on daily wages to continue the treatment of his kin. Add to that the loss of income because of his stay in the city for multiple days,” he said.

“Government schemes can take care of the treatment cost even at private hospitals, but not the ancillary costs.”

Representatives of NGOs on the panel said they have seen urban patients suffer because they do not have anyone to accompany them to the hospital.

Lack of human resources is a problem not only for cancer but other diseases as well, especially for the elderly people whose children live abroad.

“A daughter came to us for help because her mother needed treatment in the haematology department of a government hospital. The hospital requires a person to accompany the patient. The daughter was helpless because her husband lives elsewhere for work and she could not accompany her mother because her daughter was a toddler,” said A. Mukherjee, of the NGO Fight Cancer.

Mukherjee said neighbours should accompany patients to the hospital if need be.

Being ostracised is another challenge many cancer patients face, said NGOs working with them.

A representative of the Rotary Club of Calcutta Empathy (District 3291), which conducts screening for cervical cancer in urban and rural areas, said women are often reluctant to undergo the screening.

She said there is a fear of being treated as an outcast if tested positive for cancer.

Ayanabh Debgupta, regional chief operating officer, Manipal Hospitals (East), said it is “heartbreaking” to see people lose their lives because of lack of treatment.

“From the beginning, we have partnered NGOs to support patients from poor economic backgrounds and through these collaborations, we have been able to ease some of their financial burden,” he said.