Cancer Notification in India
The approach towards making cancer a notifiable disease in India varies between States and the national level. Presently, it is not a notifiable disease nationally, with the Health Ministry emphasizing notification for communicable diseases only.
Current Data Collection Methods
- Population-based and Hospital-based Cancer Registries:
- These are the primary national tools for counting cancer cases.
- They cover about 10%-16% of the population.
- Predominantly skewed towards urban, government healthcare setups.
State-Level Initiatives
- Notifiable Disease Status:
- Several States have declared cancer as a notifiable disease.
- Telangana is the latest, bringing the total to 17 States.
Projected Increase in Cancer Cases
- The Global Cancer Observatory's Projection:
- Estimated increase of 1.05 million cases from 2022 to 2045.
- Expected rise is over 74%.
- Influencing factors: increasing lifespan, aging demographics, lifestyle, and diet changes.
Challenges and Recommendations
- Data Limitation:
- Existing registries are mostly urban-centric and do not capture data from the private healthcare sector uniformly.
- Recommendation by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR):
- ICMR-NINE recommended cancer be made a notifiable disease years ago.
- Acknowledges an increase in recorded cases but stresses the importance of comprehensive data for informed healthcare and IEC strategies.
Conclusion
The Indian government is urged to learn from State-level initiatives and make cancer a notifiable disease to improve data collection and enhance public health response strategies.
