World Cancer Day |2 In 10 Guwahatians To Develop Cancer During Their Lifetime: ICMR

On the occasion of World Cancer Day, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru in a report stated that the probability of developing cancer over a lifetime is as high as one in every four men and one in every six women in Kamrup Metro of Assam. The report is a collaborative study titled "Profile of cancer and related health indicators in the Northeast Region of India".

The report was released on Thursday by Prof Balram Bhargava, secretary DHR and director-general, ICMR.

The report has projected that the number of new cancer cases in the Northeast region (NER) is likely to increase to 57,131 by 2025 – a significant increase over the estimated 50,317 cases of cancer in 2020. These estimates are based on cancer data compiled by eleven Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) in all the eight states in the Northeast, India Today reported.

The report also included data from seven Hospital Based Cancer Registries (HBCRs) in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura from 2012 to 2016.

"The National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) has played a vital role in NER towards mapping cancer burden over several years. The region is a thrust area for ICMR to augment research to address cancer prevention and control activities," said Prof Bhargava.

"We need to focus on early diagnosis and prevention of cancer. The report has given us valuable insights into the prevailing risk factors of cancer – all the stakeholders must now come together to fights its increasing incidence," said Prof GK Rath, head of AIIMS, BRAIRCH and NCI, Jhajjar.

Among the eight NE states, current tobacco use was highest in Tripura at 64.5 percent and lowest in Sikkim at 17.9 percent. Men (59 percent) and women (26.3 percent) from Arunachal Pradesh who were over 15 years of age, consumed higher proportions of alcohol than in other NE states.

In all eight states, men had a higher blood sugar level when compared to women. Less than 50 per cent of the households in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura were using clean fuel for cooking.

Meghalaya had the most households covered with a health insurance scheme or financing scheme (63.5 per cent).

Moreover, the primary goal of World Cancer Day is to significantly reduce illness and death caused by cancer and is an opportunity to rally the international community to end the injustice of preventable suffering from cancer.