Physical Graffiti (We're Doing It To Everything)

"Since most of the patients are poor, they try cheaper alternatives like homeopathy or ayurveda when the cancer is in the initial stages. But when the disease spreads and the patient is on the verge of collapse, the desperate family rushes the victim to the General Hospital but by then it is beyond cure. 'As a result the mortality rate is very high,' says [Dr. K A Rosy, a civil surgeon].

And the person who is afflicted is usually the bread-winner. 'Their families are destroyed,' says [E Sujatha, head nurse at the Ernakulam General Hospital]. She remembers a middle-aged man who died recently. The wife was looking after the husband for the past eight months. 'She was unable to work and there was no money in the house,' she says. 'The children had to stop their studies. When the man died, the family was mentally and physically shattered.' The only good news is that the treatment is free, except for minor expenses."

-- Shevlin Sebastian, bringing us "the only good news" about using water as medicine, in India's Express Buzz.