Overview

The interview with Dr. Esha Pai, Senior Consultant – Surgical Oncology at Apollomedics Hospitals, Lucknow, highlights a rapidly worsening breast and cervical cancer burden among Indian women. Government figures from the National Cancer Registry Programme indicate breast cancer cases are projected to increase from about 2.13 lakh in 2021 to nearly 2.4 lakh by 2025, while cervical cancer cases are expected to rise modestly from roughly 77,000 to over 79,000 in the same period. Breast cancer mortality has already crossed 1.03 lakh deaths per year, up from approximately 91,700 four years earlier, meaning that together these two cancers account for almost 40 % of all cancers diagnosed in Indian women.

Screening Gaps

National Family Health Survey‑5 (NFHS‑5) data reveal that merely 0.9 % of Indian women have ever been screened for breast cancer and only 1.9 % for cervical cancer. In Uttar Pradesh, the state where Dr. Pai practices, the figures are even lower—breast‑cancer screening is under 0.5 % and cervical‑cancer screening around 1.5 %. The interview attributes the low coverage to three inter‑linked failures: limited awareness (many women do not recognise a painless lump as a warning sign), poor access (mammography and Pap/HPV testing are concentrated in tier‑1 cities, forcing women in smaller towns to travel and lose wages), and cost‑related stigma that treats screening as optional or unaffordable.

Risk Factors and Detection

Dr. Pai notes that part of the rise in breast‑cancer incidence reflects genuine risk‑factor changes—later pregnancies, rising obesity, longer life expectancy and lifestyle shifts—while another part stems from improved, albeit patchy, detection as screening infrastructure expands. She stresses that early detection is crucial: breast‑cancer survival exceeds 90 % when diagnosed early, and cervical cancer is largely preventable through HPV vaccination and routine Pap‑smear or HPV‑DNA testing. However, HPV‑vaccine uptake among Indian adolescents remains far below that of countries with school‑based vaccination programmes, and national screening still touches only about 2 % of women.

Apollo’s Response – Mission Sankalp

Apollo Hospitals has responded by integrating comprehensive cancer‑care services—medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology and diagnostics—under one roof, while also investing heavily in community outreach. Under the “Mission Sankalp” initiative, Apollomedics Lucknow provides free Pap‑smear tests and mammograms to every woman aged 40 years and above, with no consultation fee or screening charge. The programme runs dedicated screening camps, partners with local community groups, and encourages women to bring relatives and neighbours. Dr. Pai observes that many participants are in their fifties and are receiving their first breast or pelvic examination at that age, underscoring the magnitude of the missed‑screening gap.

Call to Action

Dr. Pai’s concluding message to women over 40 is simple: obtain a mammogram and a Pap smear even if you feel completely fine, because waiting for a lump or abnormal bleeding typically means the cancer has already advanced. She emphasizes that the scientific tools to prevent and treat these cancers exist; the challenge lies in delivering them at scale.

Additional Context

The interview also references cultural attitudes, noting that cancer survivors often keep treatment details private while cancer‑related deaths become widely known, which hampers public perception of survivability. As an illustration, Dr. Pai mentions former Prime Minister the late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a cancer survivor who continued to serve the nation.