Cancer specialists, policy makers ASEAN Member States participate in NCG meeting in Mumbai: MEA

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Nearly 20 cancer specialists and policy makers from the ASEAN Member States and one representative from the Health Division of the grouping's Secretariat have taken part in a key meeting in India to benefit from the National Cancer Grid in diagnosis, treatment and cancer care practices, the MEA said on Wednesday.

The National Cancer Grid (NCG), an initiative of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), government of India, was launched in 2012 with the broad vision of creating uniform standards of cancer care across India.

"It has now grown to a large network of 300 plus cancer centres, research institutes, patient advocacy groups, charitable organisations and professional societies," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Towards implementation of the 10-point plan announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 21st ASEAN-India Summit, held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on October 10, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, invited the ASEAN Member States to participate in the Annual National Cancer Grid Meeting, organised from November 6-8 in Mumbai, it said.

Nineteen cancer specialists and policy makers from the ASEAN Member States and one representative from Health Division of the ASEAN Secretariat participated in the meeting. It opened up opportunities to all ASEAN Member States to benefit from the National Cancer Grid in diagnosis, treatment and cancer care practices, the statement said.

"This initiative will further strengthen the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and contribute towards resilience in health sector," it added.

Based on requests from several partner countries, the NCG "Vishwam", the global component of the NCG, was launched during the General Conference of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) meeting in Vienna in 2019 as an effort towards reducing the burden of cancer globally.

The partner countries will be able to share best practices from the National Cancer Grid and also benefit from some of its resources, it said. PTI KND AS AS