{"id":262163,"date":"2023-09-28T19:25:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T13:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=262163"},"modified":"2023-09-29T18:25:49","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T12:55:49","slug":"nearly-69-lakh-cancer-deaths-among-indian-women-were-preventable-what-a-study-says-on-gender-and-the-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/nearly-69-lakh-cancer-deaths-among-indian-women-were-preventable-what-a-study-says-on-gender-and-the-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearly 69 lakh cancer deaths among Indian women were preventable: What a study says on gender and the disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>– The post is based on the article \u201cNearly 69 lakh cancer deaths among Indian women were preventable: What a study says on gender and the disease\u201d <\/strong>published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d <\/strong>on 27th September 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: <\/strong>GS2- Social Issues – Issues related to development and management of health<\/p>\n

Relevance- <\/strong>Cancer among women<\/p>\n

News<\/strong>– A new Lancet report highlights the issues of cancer among women.<\/p>\n

What are some important revelations about the recent Lancet Commission report on gender disparities in cancer care, titled ‘Women, Power and Cancer,’?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It revealed that approximately 63% of premature cancer-related deaths<\/strong> in Indian women could have been prevented through risk reduction, screening, and early diagnosis<\/strong>. Furthermore, 37% of these deaths<\/strong> could have been avoided with timely and optimal treatment.<\/p>\n

The report estimated that out of the 6.9 million cancer deaths<\/strong> among women in India, 4.03 million were preventable, and 2.87 million were treatable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report emphasised that despite men being at a higher risk of some cancers, cancer incidence and mortality <\/strong>among women in India remain alarmingly high.<\/p>\n

Globally, women account for 48% of new cancer cases and 44% of cancer-related deaths<\/strong>. This disparity persists even for cancers in women, such as breast and cervical cancers, that are highly preventable and treatable.<\/p>\n

What are the reasons behind the poorer outcomes for women?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lancet report<\/strong>– It highlighted that women encounter difficulties in accessing timely and appropriate healthcare due to their limited knowledge, decision-making authority, financial resources<\/strong>, and the availability of services at the primary level near their homes.<\/p>\n

women are more prone than men to lack the necessary knowledge and authority<\/strong> to make well-informed healthcare decisions.<\/p>\n

Women are underrepresented in leadership roles<\/strong> face gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment<\/strong> and constitute the largest group of unpaid healthcare providers. <\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the report’s estimates, the unpaid caregiving services<\/strong> provided by women in the context of cancer care account for approximately 3.66% of India’s national health expenditure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Societal issues- <\/strong>Breast and cervical cancer are the most common cancers in women, but many women hesitate to seek help from male doctors or even female doctors for genital examinations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Logistical issues- <\/strong>The necessity of travelling to district hospitals, state capitals, or larger tertiary hospitals in other states for cancer screening, diagnostic tests, and treatment <\/strong>contributes to treatment delays.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the way forward?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Screening-<\/strong> Breast and cervical cancer are highly preventable and manageable<\/strong>. Women often seek medical attention at advanced stages of these diseases, even though both can be identified early through screening.<\/p>\n

Monthly self-examinations<\/strong> of the breasts, annual clinical examinations <\/strong>by a physician, and yearly mammograms<\/strong> for women over 40 to monitor for breast cancer are useful.<\/p>\n

There is a need for immediate consultation <\/strong>with a doctor if any lumps are detected during self-examination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Women between the ages of 25 and 65 to undergo regular pap smear tests<\/strong> to detect precancerous changes<\/strong> in the cervix. HPV test,<\/strong> which identifies the human papillomavirus responsible for a majority of cervical cancers, can be conducted every five or ten years.<\/p>\n

Awareness-<\/strong> It is necessary among the population, especially women, so they actively participate in cancer screening <\/strong>and seek medical attention. <\/strong><\/p>\n

HPV vaccination program<\/strong>– It will reduce the occurrence of common cancers in women. Vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV<\/strong>) are already available in the country, and an indigenous vaccine<\/strong> has also been developed.<\/p>\n

Role of PHCs-<\/strong> Government’s screening programs at primary health centres and sub-centers <\/strong>can aid in early diagnosis.<\/p>\n

For cervical cancer,<\/strong> treatment can be provided by nursing staff at primary health centres,<\/strong> like the practice in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source– The post is based on the article \u201cNearly 69 lakh cancer deaths among Indian women were preventable: What a study says on gender and the disease\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 27th September 2023. Syllabus: GS2- Social Issues – Issues related to development and management of health Relevance- Cancer among women News– A new… Continue reading Nearly 69 lakh cancer deaths among Indian women were preventable: What a study says on gender and the disease<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,8131,10498],"class_list":["post-262163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-social-issues","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262163\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}