In a move that is being seen as quest for new scientific development in the field of medicine. Narendra Modi recently met the famous cancer specialist and Nobel laureate Harold Varmus, who is also the director of the National Cancer Institute of America in USA.
During his 30-minute interaction with Modi, the two is said to discuss a wide range of public health care issues, including those related to cancer research, vaccine and possibilities of research in India. The professor even congratulated Modi on the laws in India on anti-smoking,
Modi later invited the Nobel Laureate to India to help and aide in medicinal and health related research. Interestingly, Harold also has a connection with India. During 1960’s Harold did his medical apprenticeship in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly. This apprenticeship is said to mark his entry into the field of medicinal research. In the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre’s Magazine, Dr Varmus during his fourth-year elective spent at a mission hospital in Bareilly in India has quoted seeing extraordinary cases of tuberculosis, leprosy, and other diseases which ignited a longstanding concern about the discrepancies between rich nations and poor in him.
Earlier in January this year he had delivered the centenary lecture at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore where he stressed on the need for international collaboration in cancer research and hoped India will have a significant role to play in this.
According to a report by British medical journal, around 1 million new cancer cases get diagnosed in India each year. It is said to nearly double to 1.7 million new cases by 2035. Around 700,000 people die from Cancer in India annually and this figure is projected to rise to 1.2 million deaths in 2035. Fewer than 30% of cancer patients in India survive for more than 5 years post diagnosis.
