Over seven lakh Indians could succumb to cancer in 2016, with the figure expected to rise to 8.8 lakh by 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed Parliament today.
In a reply to the Rajya Sabha, Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda said that this year may see around 7.3 lakh people losing the battle to the lethal disease and the figure may go up to 8.8 lakh by 2020.
Giving out the estimations as per Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) cancer registry data, he said the total number of incidences of cancer for 2016 are 14.5 lakh approximately, which is estimated to go up to 17.3 lakh cases by 2020.
The Health Minister further said that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for men, accounting for 15.6 percent of the total deaths.
On the other hand, cervical cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths among females at 20.6 percent, followed by breast cancer at 17.4 percent.
The minster further informed of the measures being taken to tackle the disease.
“To improve tertiary care facilities for cancer in the country, the Government of India is implementing tertiary care for cancer scheme to assist states to establish State Cancer Institutes (SCI) and Tertiary Care Cancer Centers (TCCC) in different parts of the country,” the minister said in a written reply.
“Oncology in its various aspects has focus in the new AIIMS, and many upgraded institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY),” he added.
