Three years ago the Ramakrishna* family were waiting for their life to end in their village on the outskirts of the city. It was not just that their young son had cancer. It was that in trying to meet the cost of his treatment, the family had sold everything they owned and run themselves deep into debt. The head of the family, a poor priest, could not hope to pay back what he had borrowed. Luckily for them, a cancer hospital and a patient support group stepped in and the boy got treatment for free. How many of those diagnosed at the Varomon Kappom Thittam, will be able to afford treatment? "The Tamil Nadu government has undertaken to cover the cost of treatment for all cancers through medical college hospitals and the speciality hospital in Kancheepuram,' Health Secretary V.K. Subbaraj told The Hindu. This includes diagnosis, radiation and therapy regardless of the severity of the cancer or the expense. But patients must be able to prove the BPL status, Dr. T.P. Kalaniti, Dean Madras Medical College, clarified. He said that radiology departments had been established in all centres and chemotherapy drugs would be supplied when necessary. According to the Directorate of Medical Education, 40,350 patients were treated for cancer in the State between January and November 2007. Dr Balu David, head of the State's speciality hospital in Kancheepuram, estimates that the average cost of treatment for each of the 2,500 patients treated last year was Rs.12-16,000 a patient, not including extras for prolonged therapy. At a minimum, the government would spend Rs. 48.42 crore on cancer treatment. Need for improvement But what if a patient's family is just enough above the poverty line? "We could do more. We need to improve,' Mr. Subbaraj said. With cancer, the price of life is so high that low-income patients become dependent on organisations such as the Cancer Institute, Adyar, where 40 per cent of patients receive free treatment. That treatment costs the hospital roughly Rs.1.5-2 lakh, not including the Rs.2 lakh required for therapy, according to Chairperson Dr V. Shanta. "Whatever the treatment, the cost is above that which the common general ward patient can afford,' she said. Girija Sudheendran, a cancer survivor and founding member of Sahaayika, an organisation that has funded Rs.20 lakh worth of treatment across India over three years, said that by the time patients come to her they have literally sold everything