{"id":366746,"date":"2026-07-04T19:41:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=366746"},"modified":"2026-07-04T19:41:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:11:57","slug":"counting-cancer-on-making-cancer-a-notifiable-disease-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/counting-cancer-on-making-cancer-a-notifiable-disease-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Counting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source<\/strong>: The post \u201cCounting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India<\/strong>\u201d has been created based on “Counting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India\u201d<\/strong> published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 4th July 2026.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus: <\/strong>GS 3-Science and Technology<\/p>\n

Context:<\/strong> Cancer is emerging as a major public health challenge in India. However, it is not a nationally notifiable disease<\/strong>, resulting in incomplete and fragmented data on the disease burden. Making cancer a nationally notifiable disease can enable evidence-based policymaking and strengthen cancer control efforts.<\/p>\n

Need to Make Cancer a Nationally Notifiable Disease<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Rising cancer burden<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. The Global Cancer Observatory<\/strong> projects that cancer cases in India will increase from 1.41 million in 2022 to 2.46 million by 2045<\/strong>, representing a rise of over 74%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. The increase is driven by longer life expectancy, an ageing population, and changing lifestyles and dietary habits.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Inadequate national data<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Population-based and hospital-based cancer registries currently cover only 10\u201316% of the population<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        2. These registries are mainly concentrated in urban areas and government healthcare institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Poor coverage of private healthcare data<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. A significant share of cancer treatment is provided by the private healthcare sector.<\/li>\n
            2. Since reporting is not mandatory, many cancer cases are not captured in national databases.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Need for evidence-based policymaking<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. Comprehensive data will help the government formulate effective prevention, screening, treatment, and awareness programmes.<\/li>\n
                2. Accurate data will improve healthcare planning and resource allocation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n
                    \n
                  1. Absence of national legal mandate: <\/strong>Cancer is not classified as a nationally notifiable disease because the current policy mainly restricts notification to communicable diseases.<\/li>\n
                  2. Limited coverage of cancer registries: <\/strong>Existing registries cover only a small proportion of the population and have an urban and government hospital bias.<\/li>\n
                  3. Inadequate reporting from the private sector: <\/strong>Private hospitals and diagnostic centres do not uniformly report cancer cases, resulting in fragmented data.<\/li>\n
                  4. Initial surge in reported cases: <\/strong>National notification will lead to a sudden increase in recorded cases, which may create administrative and resource challenges in the short term.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n
                      \n
                    1. Make cancer a nationally notifiable disease:<\/strong>The Union Government should mandate reporting of every diagnosed cancer case across all States and Union Territories.<\/li>\n
                    2. Integrate public and private healthcare reporting: <\/strong>All public and private hospitals, laboratories, and diagnostic centres should be required to report cancer cases through a uniform national system.<\/li>\n
                    3. Strengthen cancer surveillance: <\/strong>Existing population-based and hospital-based cancer registries should be expanded to ensure wider geographical and population coverage.<\/li>\n
                    4. Adopt evidence-based cancer control measures: <\/strong>Reliable national data should be used to strengthen cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and rehabilitation programmes.<\/li>\n
                    5. Improve Information, Education, and Communication (IEC): <\/strong>Disease data should be utilised to design targeted awareness campaigns for high-risk populations and encourage early diagnosis.<\/li>\n
                    6. Implement ICMR recommendations: <\/strong>The Centre should implement the recommendation of the ICMR\u2013National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR)<\/strong> to make cancer a nationally notifiable disease.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Conclusion: <\/strong>Making cancer a nationally notifiable disease will provide India with comprehensive and reliable data to strengthen surveillance, policy formulation, and healthcare planning. Learning from the 17 States<\/strong> that have already adopted this measure, the Centre should establish a nationwide notification system to build an evidence-based and effective cancer control programme.<\/p>\n

                      Question: <\/strong>Making cancer a nationally notifiable disease can strengthen India’s cancer control strategy. Discuss the need, challenges, and the way forward<\/p>\n

                      Source: <\/strong>The Hindu <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      Source: The post \u201cCounting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India\u201d has been created based on “Counting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 4th July 2026. UPSC Syllabus: GS 3-Science and Technology Context: Cancer is emerging as a major public health challenge in India. However,… Continue reading Counting cancer: On making cancer a notifiable disease in India<\/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],"tags":[216,242,10498],"class_list":["post-366746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-3","tag-science-and-technology","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\/366746","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=366746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}