Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Feb 5: In a significant move towards standardising cancer care across the country, the Centre on Tuesday released India’s first nationally developed, evidence-based guidelines for lung cancer treatment and palliation, aimed at improving early diagnosis, bridging treatment gaps and ensuring patient-centric care.
Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda released the document titled Lung Cancer Treatment and Palliation: Evidence-Based Guidelines at Kartavya Bhavan on the eve of World Cancer Day. The guidelines outline 15 evidence-based recommendations covering diagnosis, treatment pathways and palliative care, and are applicable to both public and private healthcare systems.
Officials said the guidelines seek to address the wide variations in lung cancer care across India, where late diagnosis continues to be a major challenge and treatment practices vary significantly between regions. By offering a unified clinical framework, the guidelines aim to strengthen clinical decision-making, improve patient outcomes and ensure uniform standards of care nationwide.
Speaking on the occasion, Nadda said India must evolve context-specific healthcare solutions instead of relying solely on Western clinical models. He underlined that early detection remains one of the biggest hurdles in lung cancer management and called for stronger prevention and screening strategies, particularly among high-risk groups.
Developed by experts under the Department of Health Research and the Directorate General of Health Services, the guidelines follow internationally accepted scientific methodologies while being tailored to India’s disease burden and healthcare realities. They place equal emphasis on treatment and palliation, focusing not only on survival but also on patients’ quality of life.
Health officials said the guidelines are expected to help standardise lung cancer care across states, improve access to palliative services and reduce disparities between public and private hospitals. A plain-language version will also be released to help patients and caregivers better understand available treatment options.
Senior health officials and medical experts involved in drafting the guidelines were present at the release event.