Mumbai, 5 August 2025

 

The National Cancer Grid (NCG) in India held its 2025 annual meeting on 2^nd and 3^rd August at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. The NCG is a collaborative network of over 380 cancer centres, research institutes, patient groups and professional societies in India and 15 other countries. Funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India, NCG member organizations treat over 860,000 new patients with cancer annually, which is 60% of all patients with cancer in India. The meeting served as a platform to showcase the breadth of NCG’s initiatives, review progress, and chart the course for future collaborative efforts.

The annual meeting was attended by over 300 cancer centre leaders and professionals, researchers, policymakers, voluntary organizations and patient advocates. The meeting had a diverse agenda highlighting several NCG initiatives and brainstorming sessions focusing on future initiatives. The event is aimed to present an opportunity to all member organizations to get familiar with the various National Cancer Grid activities and get first-hand experience of cancer control under the project. Areas of discussion included the revision of the National Cancer Grid guidelines for cancer management, Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement programs, cost effective cancer research and the use of digital and AI tools in cancer. Towards reducing costs of cancer care, the NCG was able to negotiate with pharma companies to get an average 85% discount on MRP for cancer drugs, dramatically bringing down the costs of cancer care. In addition, the process ensured high quality of drugs and streamlined the supply chain to smaller, remotely located hospitals.

The meeting was attended by senior officers of the National Health Authority - Joint Secretary Ms Jyoti Yadav and Director (Convergence) Dr. Pankaj Arora. Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and CEO, IndiaAI, Ms Kavita Bhatia, COO, IndiaAI; and Surgeon Vice-Admiral Arti Sarin and Surgeon Rear Admiral Vivek Hande from Armed Forces Medical Services were also present. International participants included Dr Eric Small, President, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Dr Julie Gralow, Chief Medical Officer, ASCO, Mr Walter Birch, Division Director, Care Delivery, ASCO, Dr Satish Gopal, Director, National Cancer Institute Center for Global Health, USA, Dr Isaac Alatise, Vice-President (West Africa), African Organization for Research and Training in Africa (AORTIC) and co-founder, African Research Group in Oncology (ARGO), Dr Ngalla Calvin, Vice-President (Central Africa), AORTIC, amongst others.

An important feature of the meeting was the participation of 30 international leaders from 17 countries. This was consequent to implementation of the 10-point agenda announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit, held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on October 10, 2024. The National Cancer Grid, in collaboration with the Indian Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta and the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, invited ASEAN Member States to participate in the meeting - 14 cancer specialists and policy makers from 6 ASEAN Member States participated in the meeting. This is the second of five such annual collaborations approved by ASEAN and India, supported under the ASEAN-India Fund. In addition, nine senior cancer physicians and policy makers from three BIMSTEC countries also participated in the meeting.

The National Cancer Grid also honoured four stalwarts in cancer control with the NCG Lifetime Achievement awards for their substantial contributions during the meeting – they included Prof Rajendra Badwe, surgical oncologist and former Director, Tata Memorial Centre, Prof G K Rath, radiation oncologist and former Head, National Cancer Institute, Jhajjar, Dr Suresh Advani, medical oncologist and former Professor, Tata Memorial Hospital and Prof Julie Gralow, medical oncologist and Chief Medical Officer, ASCO.

The 2025 NCG Annual Meeting reaffirmed the Grid’s commitment to equitable, high-quality, and affordable cancer care—both within India and across global regions with similar challenges. It underscored India’s leadership in fostering international collaboration in cancer control and set the stage for deeper multilateral engagement in the years to come.

 

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PIB Mumbai | Sriyanka Chatterjee/Darshana Rane

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