Now to India, where the high cost of cancer drugs risks putting treatment out of reach for many people who are poorer and struggling with the disease. Now a group of hospitals is taking on the drug companies by pooling their resources to buy the drugs in bulk. They aim to cut the cost of treatment by more than 80% and make sure even remote places can get access to advanced medicines. So could this be a model for other developing countries? Artashana Shukla has been finding out.

A quiet revolution in India is bringing cancer care closer to home for many, like for Narayan and his wife, after an Adoha search for breast cancer treatment in distant metro cities, the three drug combo his wife needs is now available at a local hospital in their hometown in the far east corner of India. At one third the price.

Earlier, it cost $650 for one treatment cycle. I had to sell a land and borrow from relatives to pay. At least now we can afford the full treatment.

It's the power of a collective effort. A network of cancer hospitals, including this one in rural Assam, has teamed up to buy medicines in bulk, securing up to 85% discounts for some critical drugs.

Bringing anticancer drugs to the poorest has been the toughest challenge in most parts of India. More so for hospitals like this that try to bring cancer care to people from low income backgrounds and in remote rural areas. But hereto, the availability of advanced treatments is seen improving now.

So we must start asking why? Why is this not happening?

A pioneer in providing cancer care for the poor, dr. Ravi Kannan struggled. In the early days, no drugs company would commit to regular supplies to smaller centers. But it's different now.

The smaller hospitals don't have to get into the negotiation table at all. The price is already decided. And the cost at which the smaller hospitals will buy the drugs is much, much lower than what it would be if they had negotiated directly from rural.

Clinics to Mumbai's top cancer center. The network saved $170,000,000 on the first 40 drug purchase. Negotiating for costly patented treatments, however, remains tough.

I think what pharmaceutical companies need to understand is in a market like India, unless you bring costs down, you're not going to get the volumes. And it's a chicken on the egg phenomenon.

These wards have become homes for many from faraway towns. And a success of this program promises to stem this large scale migration. That's a model other low and middle income countries can potentially replicate too. Achana Shukla, BBC News, Silcher Assam.