The World Cancer Day last week was a reminder of the high burden of the disease in India and the danger it is likely to pose to health and welfare in the coming years. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report released on the occasion should also serve as a warning about what the disease means to the world and India. Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, and India accounts for 6% of the deaths. The report says that one in 10 Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime and one in 15 will die of it. The mortality rate has been increasing by 6% in the last few years, and the number of cases more than tripled between 2017 and 2018, according to the National Health Profile.
The case for preventing the disease and dealing with it when it occurs assumes greater importance because of the rising incidence, the suffering that it causes to patients and others and the high cost of treatment. Cancer is becoming a lifestyle disease with food habits, nature of work and the stress levels of people influencing it. The WHO report gives a socio-economic background also to the incidence of the disease. This should provide a better understanding of its prevalence and should help to design effective measures to deal with it. The report says that oral and cervical cancer is associated with lower socio-economic status and breast and colorectal cancer is found more among the better-off sections. Socio-economic development and urbanisation have given rise to lifestyles and habits which are contributing to the higher incidence of the disease. At the same time, backwardness and lack of education and awareness is also a contributing factor. The report says that cervical cancer is more common among poorer women with limited access to public health services.
One useful and important inference is that the inequalities caused by development not only give rise to social and political tension and conflict but also impact the lives of people in other ways like the nature of diseases they contract. The report recommends ‘’highly focussed and tailored public health interventions’’ to target different socio-economic groups in order to reduce disparities in cancer prevention. There are geographical differences also in the incidence of the disease. Public health policies should be designed and implemented in light of these realities, but it is difficult to see how this can be done when the health infrastructure is itself inadequate and inefficient. While prevention and treatment are more important, more attention needs to be paid to palliative care. There should also be more research for a better understanding of the disease and its cure.
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