Rise in cancer cases in India, says government

New Delhi: The government on Friday said that the country has witnessed an increase in cancer cases in the past few years.

As per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the cases have increased to 14,51,417 in 2016 from 12,70,781 in 2013, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Faggan Singh Kulaste told the Lok Sabha citing ICMR's National Cancer Registry data.

He said treatment of cancer is either free or subsidised in the government healthcare delivery system.

The government under "Strengthening of Tertiary care of Cancer" scheme is assisting to establish/strengthen 20 State cancer Institutes and 50 Tertiary Care Cancer Centres in different parts of the country," he said while replying during the Question Hour.

BJD MP Balabhadra Majhi raised the issue of increasing cancer patients in his home state Odisha and wanted cancer treatment institute to be set up there.

To this, Kulaste said if the state sends a proposal, the centre will consider that.

Based on a nation-wide survey, the ICMR had released a report in May this year stating that there has been a significant rise in cancers of colon, prostrate and rectum among men and an augmentation in breast, lung, uterine endometrium, and ovarian cancers among women, indicating to some patterns which were not previously observed.

Furthermore, using the findings in the survey, the Indian Council of Medical Research estimated that about 14.5 lakh Indians are going to develop cancer during 2016 and the number is expected to increase upto about 17.3 lakh by the year 2020.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that more than 1 million new cases are reported in India while about 6.8 lakh people die due to cancer in the country.

(With PTI inputs)