Letter to the Editor

The following is the letter that i sent to Editor, TOI ,Pune. As expected, they printed after deleting and/or shortening few lines. The omitted ones are in red.

This refers to the article ' Anticancer drugs show a strong signs of growth '(May 20).
Anticancer drug market showing growth maybe 'hallelujah' moment for pharma cos, chemists and ,doctors. However, from a patient point of view its disastrous. Those people who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation and paid huge hospital bils and bought costly chemotherapy drugs must be wondering why government and NGOs are silent on huge profit margins that pharma cos make on selling anticancer drugs.

Why are anticancer drugs so costly and actually beyond the reach of many sufferers? Its not that Indian pharma cos are innovating and trying to find a less toxic alternative to chemotherapy. Most of the anticancer drugs in market are molecules imported from outside the country. The only cost that these MNC and Indian cos have to bear is manufacturing cost in bulk. Cancer is a chronic traumatic disease whose treatment should not only be subsidized but a huge emphasis can be made on not making it out to be a 'huge money making machine'.