The NGO 'ICON (Indian Co-operative Oncology Network)' will help the Health Ministry to spread awareness among medical and nursing students.
"Over five lakh people have died due to cancer in the year 2010 alone. The number of new breast cancer cases is about 115,000 per year. Forty per cent of cancer patients die because of drug side-effects. These figures can come down and deaths can be avoided if medicos, irrespective of their area they specialise in, have knowledge about cancer," a Health Ministry official said.
The awareness drive has already started in states like West Bengal and Gujarat, he said.
"It was an initiative of ICON. They will train the medical and nursing students who in turn will educate those in the district level. Treatment in cancer patient is delayed because of lack of knowledge about cancer among them," the official said.
"Who knows, this might even guide the medical students to pick up a career as an oncologist or radiologist or do research in this disease," the official added.