Gorakhpur, Nov 13 — Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Gorakhpur constituency is emerging as a model for decentralised childhood cancer care with the state government, along with other stakeholders, strengthening regional treatment hubs, shared-care networks and financial protection.
A recent Indian study has highlighted the children are forced to travel long distances to reach specialised treatment centres, suggesting better paediatric oncology services beyond metros.
Published in the Journal of Cancer Policy in September 2026, the study 'Motorised travel time to access childhood cancer care in India: A multi-centre geospatial analysis', examined 22,328 children receiving treatment at three major cancer centres in Delhi and Chennai.
It found a median estimated travel time of 161 minutes, with nearly three-quarters of children travelling more than an hour to reach treatment.
At Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur, the development of a dedicated paediatric oncology service -- equipped for cancer treatment, including chemotherapy, medicines and patient-family support -- is demonstrating how government medical colleges can become stronger regional treatment hubs, a government official said.
Doctor Kuldeep Singh, Assistant Professor of Paediatrics, said that the centre has attended to more than 100 childhood cancer patients since 2023. The 30-bed paediatric oncology ward is also serving families from neighbouring districts, Bihar and Nepal.
"As India marks Children's Day on November 14, the findings of the travel-time study serve as a reminder that the location of treatment services can impact a child's journey through cancer," he added.
The strengthening of services at BRD Medical College builds on Project Suddridh, a paediatric oncology capacity-building initiative launched in the Gorakhpur region in 2022, and the May 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between national society CanKids and the Uttar Pradesh government's National Health Mission.
For children in North Purvanchal, it means that better care can be provided within the region rather than requiring repeated journeys to Delhi, Mumbai or other distant cities.
Uttar Pradesh, with an estimated 14,700 new childhood cancer cases annually among children and adolescents aged 0–19, is a priority state for policy makers for demonstrating an integrated approach to childhood cancer control, an official said, pointing to a model organised around four proposed Childhood Cancer District Divisions (CCDDs).
The approach seeks to strengthen designated government medical colleges and tertiary hospitals as regional treatment hubs, while connecting them to district hospitals, other healthcare facilities and community health services through a structured hub-and-spoke network.
For families affected by childhood cancer, long-distance treatment involves much more than travel expenses.
Accommodation, food, lost wages, disrupted schooling and separation from family support systems can place an enormous burden on households.
In 2016, Shaila and Pramod Giri travelled from Gorakhpur to AIIMS, Delhi, after their daughter Anshika was diagnosed with blood cancer.
They made more than 20 trips and faced significant livelihood disruption. Anshika completed treatment. Today her parents work as a care coordinators in Gorakhpur, helping children with cancer and their families.
In another case, Sanskriti and her family travelled from Siwan in Bihar to AIIMS, Delhi, for their daughter's surgery.
With patient support and care coordination, her subsequent chemotherapy could be provided at BRD Medical College, allowing her father to return to work while treatment continued closer to home.
Such examples demonstrate the importance of coordinated referrals and shared-care arrangements between specialist institutions and regional hospitals.
Poonam Bagai, ICMR Central Ethics Committee on Human Research Member, Cankids founder and Childhood Cancer International's WHO South East Asia Region Representative, said, "Uttar Pradesh is our demonstration model for how this can be achieved through sustained partnership with government and all concerned stakeholders."
"BRD Medical College in North Purvanchal shows what is possible, and we want to build on this experience across the state. The approach is not limited to Uttar Pradesh as we are working with other state governments as well," she added.
Bagai emphasised that improving geographic access alone is insufficient.
"Bringing treatment closer to home must go hand in hand with financial protection," she said.
"India's 2030 goals are 100 per cent access to care, 100 per cent financial protection and at least 60 per cent survival, aligned with the UNGA80 call, the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer and Universal Health Coverage."
"The Uttar Pradesh demonstration model also envisages improved mapping of treatment facilities, patient registration, referral tracking, financial protection monitoring and outcome measurement to guide further expansion," she said.