Importance of Cancer Awareness

Cancer is one of the rising concerns all over the world, and India ranks third position in terms of new yearly cases of cancer. Since, a very long period, the government of India is trying to create awareness about cancer and hence since 2014 November 7 is observed as Cancer Day.

Cancer is also a prevalent disease found across the globe. According to World Health Organization, in the year 2020, the most common cause of death by cancer were lungs, colon and rectum, liver, stomach, and breast. For the same year, the most common cancer in terms of new cases recorded was breast, lung, colon and rectum, prostate, skin and stomach. The same data also mentions that nearly 400,000 children develop cancer each year, and the most common cancer varies between countries.

Also Read: India's gigantic steps towards ODF country

The government of India started taking measures back in 1975. In that year National Cancer Control Programme. The government revised the programme in 1984-85 in order to make it more oriented towards early detection. As per some media reports, the reported cases in India during 2022 were around 19 to 20 lakhs while the actual number of cases that went unreported would be 1.5 to 3 times higher than reported.

Also Read: India’s Grains Story

As per data available on the website of India Against Cancer which is a group of medical doctors and researchers at ‘National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research’ (NICPR) and ‘Indian Council of Medical Research’ (ICMR), the risk of dying from cancer before the age of 75 years among Indians is 1 in 22 for the rural area, while urban males it is 1 in 20 and for urban female, it is 1 in 24. Overall for Indian males, it is 1 in 68 and for females, it is 1 in 29 and for both sex included it is as high as 1 in 9.

There are various types of cancers that can happen within males and females, but the following are the top 5 types of cancers occurring in males and females

As the table shows, breast cancer is at the top of the list for cancer in women. In the NFHS survey, the number of women undergoing breast checkups is also measured. Following is the district-wise map of India, indicating the number of women undergoing breast examination for cancer.

Also Read: How India makes steel for the world

As per the map, there are some districts where many women have undergone breast checkups for cancer. On the other hand, in some districts, this number is very less. Overall, throughout the country to go for breast cancer checkups is less. Unfortunately, the map for women undergone oral cavity cancer checkup is largely similar to this same map. Given the risk of death because of cancer before the age of 75 years, this needs to be changed as soon as possible.

There could be several reasons behind this. Cancer is considered a very dangerous disease for common people in India. Though, not a very false assumption; now early detected cancer can be cured through a variety of treatments. There are several social organizations working for cancer awareness along with the government of India. There are world-class cancer special hospitals available in India. Along with awareness about cancer, the Government of India has also included cancer in its various health schemes. Yet, the number of increasing cancer patients indicates that there is a lot of work which is remained. Society and Government both need to work hand-in-hand to create awareness about cancer and to make more and more people literate about it.