the Union ministry of health and family welfare along with the department of Indian systems of medicine (ism) is planning to set up ayurvedic centres in various hospitals across the country to treat cancer patients. An expert panel will be soon constituted, which will finalise the proposal and list the centres that can avail this facility. "One has to look at traditional medicine for a parallel approach to cure cancer. Awareness about this is still missing,' says Shailaja Chandra, secretary of ism .

One of the main benefits of ayurvedic treatment will be a large cut in the treatment costs. "For example, chemotherapy treatment for promylocytic leukaemia patients can cost between Rs 2-3 lakh, while ayurvedic treatment costs just Rs 30,000,' says Prem Kishore, a consultant with ism.

"Allopathic treatment believes in evidence-based medicine