Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi: Though the burden of cancer is rising in the country with every passing year, two-thirds of the cancer cases remain preventable only if people can watch out for risk factors.
In India, cancer is one of the 10 leading causes of death and is an growing public health challenge with an estimated 8 lakh deaths happening on this count alone. Experts, however, say two-thirds of cancer cases are preventable and half of them can be avoided just with early detection.
As for the rates of cancer, the world’s highest rates of cervical, gall bladder, oral and pharynx cancers are in India. Dr Rajendra Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre, notes, “In 2011, a UN resolution declared four key strategies to curb the rising burden of cancers — tobacco control, controlling the use of alcohol, checking obesity and improved nutrition. It is a mammoth task to improve the nutritional status of so many people, but control of tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, junk food is well within the reach of our policymakers. It will not be an exaggeration to say that most cancers are caused by the organised industry for making profits at the cost of people’s health.”
Estimated costs of policy interventions to control cancer risk factors show that in India, it would just cost $1.52 per person to put in place interventions to prevent cancers.
Recent data from the National Family Health Survey shows that almost a third of Indian males consume tobacco in some form and nearly one-third of them die prematurely from serious illness such as cancers, heart diseases.
“Gutkha has been banned in several states but the enforcement is lax. The sale of gutkha in twin packets (tobacco and pan masala) is causing trouble. This needs to be stopped,” says oncologist Pankaj Chaturvedi.
