Make cancer notifiable disease: Parliamentary panel

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New Delhi, September 13

With over 13 lakh new cancer cases being detected in India every year and the incidence of detection rising with time, the parliamentary committee on health today batted for cancer to be made a notifiable disease for better reporting.

Noting that the absence of a notifiable tag for cancer was leading to under-reporting, the panel, in its report on cancer burden and incidence, said, “Many a time death is simply recorded as cardio-respiratory failure without mentioning the actual cause of death. Cancer must be classified as a notifiable disease so that deaths are mandatorily required to be reported to the government machinery.”

Estimated cancer cases in India have risen from 13,25,232 in 2018 to 13,58,415 in 2019 and 13,92,179 in 2020, with the burden likely much more. “It will also help in analysing the risk factors, implementing screening programmes and allocating proper resources to improve outcomes,” said the panel.

It said a CoWIN-like web portal for cancer registration and real-time data collection should be launched and cancer registry data should be linked to Ayushman Bharat portal to improve registration, follow-up and outcome.