The incidence of cancer and cancer mortality rate is on the rise in India according to a report tabled recently in the Rajya Sabha. As per the health ministry statistics, out of a total 14.61 lakh people detected with cancer in 2022, nearly 8.08 lakh people have died. The death toll has shown a sharp rise from the 7.89 lakh fatalities in 2021. In a recent study the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has claimed that one in nine Indians will suffer from cancer during their lifetime, while one out of 68 men will encounter lung cancer and one in 29 women will suffer from breast cancer. Although the union health ministry has predicted that there may be an increase of 12.8 per cent in the incidence of cancer, many organisations working in the field have claimed that this figure may be two or three times higher than government estimates.
This is worrying news as the rising occurrence of cancer and its high mortality rate may pose a hurdle to India’s efforts towards progress as its most valuable asset is Human Resource. Indians have already become prone to diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and kidney ailments while adopting modern lifestyles. These diseases along with cancer may make a vast section of the Indian populace unfit for any strenuous work, which will prove detrimental to nation building. Effort must be made to identify ways to lessen the incidence of cancer and decrease the mortality rate.
It is a fact that even after years of research, a guaranteed treatment for cancer still remains unavailable. Thus, the medical fraternity has put immense stress on preventing the disease from spreading within the body, rather than on curing it. In several cases, soon after the detection and targeting of cancer cells either by operation or other means such as radiation, doctors try to confine the disease to a certain part of the body to prevent it from spreading. This methodology has achieved some success worldwide as the mortality rate in cancer has come down considerably. By adopting the same strategy, the United States of America (US) has managed to reduce the mortality rate by 33 per cent since 1991.
India can also achieve the same feat if it chalks out a comprehensive plan to fight against the disease and take on every possible effort to implement it in an effective and time bound manner. Numbers suggest that early detection of the disease tremendously helps in saving lives. Thus, cancer detection centers, equipped with modern equipment should come up in every sub-division to detect the disease at the initial stages. Secondly, treatment of cancer is both expensive and time consuming. This is why often less privileged people have to stop treatment midway. The government should endeavour to make the treatment less expensive and ensure that every cancer affected person is able to complete treatment. Moreover, well-trained oncologists should be made available in all cancer institutes and cancer detection centers. A strategic and comprehensive action plan must be undertaken by the government and healthcare sector to ensure that healthcare facilities, treatments and professionals are made accessible to the public, and awareness campaigns are conducted. The citizens too must take on their responsibility of timely screening and maintaining healthy lifestyles to reduce the incidence of cancer and mortality rate.
