Northeast states account for 3.6% of cancer cases in India

• KOHIMA — The estimated incidence of cancer cases in the North Eastern Region (NER) in 2022 stood at 53,046, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Cancer Registry Programme (ICMR-NCPR) data under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• 
  
• This was updated by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, in his reply to an unstarred question raised by Joyanta Basumatary, MP from Assam, in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
• 
  
• The MoS stated that the NER accounted for 3.6% of the total incidence of cancer cases in the country during the last five years.
• 
  
• Jadhav shared that under the CaRes NER multidisciplinary programme, the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (ICMR-NCDIR) is conducting a monitoring survey to assess cancer risk factors and evaluate the health system's response in the region.

Also read: Another rally demonstrates Nagas’ opposition to Indo-Myanmar border fencing

• 
  
• He also informed that under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), which was launched by the health ministry, a total of 115 district NCD clinics and 326 Community Health Centre NCD clinics have been set up across northeastern states of India.
• 
  
• Additionally, a population-based initiative for screening, management and prevention of NCD, including breast cancer, has been rolled out through public health facilities, and that treatment in government hospitals is either free or highly subsidised for the poor and needy, he added.
• 
  
• The MoS further highlighted that there are various schemes of government of India to facilitate accessible and affordable healthcare and treatment, which include the establishment of a state cancer institute in Assam; tertiary cancer care centres in Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim; the national free drugs service initiative and free diagnostic service; the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP); and affordable medicines and reliable implants for treatment (AMRIT).
• 
  
• Under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), cancer-related treatment is provided for medical, surgical and radiation oncology across 219 packages, he said.
• 
  
• Nagaland records 1,935 cases in 5 years
• 
  
• As per data provided by the minister, Nagaland reported an estimated 1,935 new cancer cases during the last five years, including 1,103 males and 832 females.
• 
  
• The estimated incidence of cancer cases in other Northeast states during the last five years are: Sikkim (275 males and 286 females), Arunachal Pradesh (582 males and 561 females), Manipur (1004 males and 1246 females), Mizoram (1101 males and 1013 females), Tripura (1632 males and 1239 females), Meghalaya (1994 males and 1174 females), and Assam (22,575 males and 19,138 females).