Every February 4, the world pauses to honour World Cancer Day, a day born from a global pledge to unite in cancer research, prevention, and compassionate care. It’s a time when activities buzz everywhere: new programs launch, interventions roll out, and promises are made to ease the burden on patients. As a healthcare professional deeply rooted in primary care, my team and I join the momentum every year, conducting hundreds of screenings and offering one-on-one counselling tailored to patients’ fears and hopes.
Today too, the day was full, online and offline meetings, some celebratory backslapping, others laced with shared laments. But amid the whirlwind, one caregiver’s words cut through and lingered.
Why can’t cancer OPDs have a fellow patient or caregiver on staff?
He asked. Someone who’s stared down the diagnosis themselves, who could lock eyes with a trembling new patient and say with fierce conviction: “The fight is brutal, but it’s worth every battle, look at me, I made it through.” Someone empowered to offer a simple hug, because even in India, where we pride ourselves on resilience, a hug can pierce the sterile chill of an OPD when devastation lands.
The human touch we lack
Those words hit home. As a doctor who’s also been a caregiver multiple times over, battle-weary with holding loved ones through their cancer journeys, I have ached for that human touch we so often lack. Imagine a steady hand to grasp in the daze, a voice whispering it’s okay to feel overwhelmed, that brighter days lie ahead or, at the very least, it will get easier to deal with.
A heartfelt wish
On this World Cancer Day, here’s my heartfelt wish — Let every cancer OPD bristle with Care Coordinators, equal in number to our busier-than-ever oncologists. Let each diagnosis be met not just with facts, but with calm handholding: an introduction to humane palliative care and counselling, a personal number to call anytime, and the reassurance that no question is too small or scary. Come back when you’re ready, they’d say.
Because in the war on cancer, medicine saves lives, but humanity heals souls.