Counting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India

📌 Summary:

• Context: In India, cancer is NOT a notifiable disease at the national level; the Health Ministry’s position is that notification is only for communicable diseases
• Core argument: The Centre should make cancer a notifiable disease nationally, taking lessons from States
• Current data gap: Population-based and hospital-based cancer registries are the only national tools, but they cover just ~10%-16% of the population and are skewed towards urban, government health-care settings; much private-sector care data is not uniformly captured
• State-led momentum: Several States have made cancer notifiable within their boundaries; Telangana is the latest, taking the total to 17 States
• Key data: The Global Cancer Observatory (affiliated to WHO) projects cases rising from 1.41 million (2022) to 2.46 million (2045) — an increase of ~1.05 million cases, over 74%
• Drivers: Increasing life span, ageing demographics, and changes in lifestyle and diet
• Institutional precedent: ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (now ICMR-NINE) had recommended years ago that cancer be made notifiable
• Solution: Make cancer notifiable nationally to build an evidence base; treat the resulting jump in recorded cases as part of a studied, evidence-based public-health response (including IEC — information, education, communication), not as a liability

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 Governance/Health — disease surveillance and health data systems, Centre-State roles in public health, evidence-based policymaking for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

📝 Prelims Facts:

• A “notifiable disease” must legally be reported to government authorities; in India cancer is notifiable only in some States (now 17, latest Telangana), not nationally
• Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) is affiliated to the WHO (IARC); projects India’s cases from 1.41 million (2022) to 2.46 million (2045)
• ICMR-NCDIR is now ICMR-NINE; runs the National Cancer Registry Programme

🔑 Key Term: Notifiable disease — a disease that, by law, must be reported to government health authorities to enable surveillance, data collection and public-health response.