Cancer should be declared notifiable disease across States, Union Territories: Parliamentary panel

A parliamentary committee suggested that cancer be declared a notified disease in all states and union regions.

Rajya Sabha, chaired by the petitions Committee Narain Dass Gupta, said in its 163th report presented on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, and that reliable data, especially cancer, especially comprehensive information, is vital to evaluate the cancer in which comprehensive information is necessary to evaluate the cancer and plan policies and plan.

Currently, cancer data have been obtained from the National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP), which includes only 18% of the population, which is thought to be insufficient for a national picture. Health professionals have long been advocating to declare a disease that can be reported to cancer.

Currently, the government’s position is guided by Kim norms that limit notification to infectious diseases.

“Considering the increasing load of cancer in India, this posture requires a serious repetition. Considering the increasing burden of cancer of India, the committee thinks that the reporting of cancer will provide systematic reporting, will provide real -time and reliable data, strengthen the surveillance and make evidence -based policy.

The report will support targeted interventions, rational resources allocation, region -specific strategies and the development of appropriate infrastructure.

Although some states have already made cancer informable, a national task will provide a clear picture of uniform documents and the burden of the disease.

The Committee also suggested that tobacco products be given a high -risk cut or heavy taxes, and said that the income earned can be used to support cancer research and cancer care throughout the country.

He observed that the government has taken a few steps to reduce tobacco consumption. “However, the ground reality shows that more should be done,” he said.

Verbal cancer in India

According to the national oral registry, it is estimated that approximately 60,000 new oral cancer cases are reported annually in India, and five people die every hour due to oral cancer and show that the disease is quite deadly.

“What is even more worried is that the Indians contracted to oral cancer at a much younger age (ie 40 years and below) than the western population of the western population,” the Committee said.

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He also called for comprehensive awareness campaigns, especially in educational institutions to spread awareness of bad effects.

The Committee also observed that there has also been a significant increase in the number of undergraduate and graduate medical seats in recent years, which has the potential to strengthen the medical labor in the country.

Although the number of educated oncologists is relatively limited, the ongoing expansion of the medical education infrastructure and the increase in the existence of the university seat is significantly contributed to the bridging of both geographical inequalities and expertise in the name of Oncology Koma when the National Board of Directors (DNB) is officially recognized.

In addition, many medical experts preferred to work abroad with the concern that he said. Most of these individuals have benefited from public financing directly or indirectly through grants, scholarships or subsidized education while studying in Indian institutions.

“In the light of such a high output rate, the increasing availability of medical seats does not cause a proportional increase in medical experts serving within the country,” he said.

For this reason, the Committee argued that a comprehensive study should be done to evaluate the actual requirements of the population density of the population, so that the expansion of medical education facilities can be realized in a holistic and regional balanced way.

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He also proposed to introduce compulsory service norms to ensure that medical graduates benefiting from government assistance contribute to the national service.

Simultaneously, the government should consider making salary structures more attractive to encourage qualified professionals to practice domestic practice.

Budget allocation in the field of oncology

An important concern that arose during the committee’s interaction with stakeholders was the limited release of new drug molecules in India. The main reason for this was the inadequate level of domestic research and development.

The Committee observed that the majority of cancer drugs in the Indian market have been imported from developed countries such as US and Europe, where significant importance is given to research and innovation.

Considering the important scientific and clinical ability available in the country, he proposed that the government should significantly increase the budget allocation for research and development in the field of oncology.

‘Strategy between Coordinated Ministries’

He also observed that India significantly contributed to the increasing cancer load of India beyond the use of tobacco, environmental pollution and carcinogens in air, water, pesticides and fertilizers.

Since these problems include more than one ministry, panel proposed a strategy between coordinated ministries, especially in coordination between health, environment and agriculture to address environmental risk factors, emphasized that silent approaches are inefficient and that synergy is necessary to reduce long -term health effects.

Released – 21 August 2025 04:40 IST