{"id":33237,"date":"2023-01-20T01:06:04","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T19:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=33237"},"modified":"2025-04-19T20:27:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T14:57:50","slug":"cancer-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/cancer-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What is Cancer?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the incidence of cancer and mortality in India currently?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why are some cancers on the decline and others continue to rise?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Have there been improvements in cancer treatments?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What must be done to bring down overall mortality like in the US?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>According to the American Cancer Society, cancer deaths have decreased by 33% since 1991, resulting in <strong>3.8 million fewer deaths in the United States.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>This success is primarily due to earlier detection, lower smoking rates, and advancements in cancer treatment.<\/li>\n<li>Even with advancements in treatment, <strong>this trend has yet to be reflected in India<\/strong>, where cancer incidence and mortality continue to rise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Cancer?<\/strong><br \/>\n\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/AhcBMroJHUuUx3-6oWxwr3Pw5QndQSGa2CNCVN1uY91AvvHlJUlvKJ4yMW0d-SnCmxJcPLEeFmneOiUrfLRNuLxWHpWbcs2x6RF1HNSAE0II2Sv0dh0KO4qmyRkPFXqCn7D3oQ7yftxr2d-20o554g\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nImage Caption: Causes of Cancer<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cancer is a disease in which some of the <strong>body\u2019s cells grow uncontrollably and spread<\/strong> to other parts of the body.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Cancer <strong>can start almost anywhere in the human body<\/strong>, which is made up of trillions of cells.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Normally<\/strong>, human cells grow and multiply through a process called <strong>cell division<\/strong>, to form new cells as the body needs them.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes this orderly process breaks down, and <strong>abnormal or damaged cells grow and multiply when they shouldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>These cells may form tumours, which are lumps of tissue and can be cancerous or not cancerous.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the incidence of cancer and mortality in India currently?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/DcOnQLMsJDZebLtKsQqqRqtU-SY372_vVFIyCVIzmmWY6J9M0XmHZmKcBE1FuA8JJjrd8iT_brF1Lkw8npZtuFVvvGwYlv9Bv_SJDAhPD76v9vpy-7v_ZYvOKFNJiGpsWGJn04La3hI1Rr7IuvMcug\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Status of Cancer in India<\/p>\n<h2>\n<strong>Why are some cancers on the decline and others continue to rise?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In India, the<strong> incidence of cervical cancer has decreased <\/strong>from 45 to 10 per 100,000 people in the last 50 years<strong>, while the prevalence of breast cancer is rising<\/strong>, particularly in urban areas, for example, <strong>45 per 100,000 in Hyderabad.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Late marriages, fewer children, improved hygiene and human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) are all contributing to the decline of cervical cancer.<\/li>\n<li>Late marriages, having the first child at a later age, not breastfeeding, and a high protein diet resulted in the rise of breast cancer.<\/li>\n<li>Breast cancer, unlike cervical cancer, has no<strong> specific intervention other than screening because the exact cause is unknown.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tobacco-related<\/strong> &#8211; oral, esophageal &#8211; cancer rates are also decreasing, owing largely to tobacco laws that have reduced smoking in public places.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lung cancer,<\/strong> which is caused by pollution as well as smoking,<strong> continues to be a source of concern. In Arunachal Pradesh, <\/strong>for example, lung cancer rates are high because people light fires indoors during the winter.\n<ul>\n<li>Lung cancer has a low survival rate and is typically diagnosed in its late stages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Have there been improvements in cancer treatments?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>This can be elucidated by the cure rate for various cancers.<strong> For example,\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In the last 50 years, the cure rate for <strong>pancreatic <\/strong>cancer has doubled from 3% to 6%.<\/li>\n<li>It has risen from 60% to 100% for <strong>prostate <\/strong>cancer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Breast <\/strong>cancer survival rates have increased from 50% to 90% thanks to newer treatments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>However, India&#8217;s infrastructure for the <strong>seven pillars of cancer care &#8211; <\/strong>prevention, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, imaging, laboratory diagnostics, and palliation,<strong> is deficient.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>In developing countries, for example, as per WHO there should be one radiotherapy machine for every million people. <strong>So, for 1.4 billion people in India, 1,400 machines are needed, but we only have 700.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What must be done to bring down overall mortality like in the US?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Screening must be the first intervention<\/strong>. This has already begun with the government&#8217;s upgraded health and wellness centres for the three most common types of cancer &#8211; breast, cervical, and oral (34% of cancers in India).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Screening should lead to hospital treatment<\/strong>, which should be accessible and affordable.<\/li>\n<li>The current one cancer care facility for every 5-crore people in India must be increased.<\/li>\n<li>The need is to ensure that people are <strong>diagnosed early and treated promptly.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>There is a need to <strong>coordinate existing efforts<\/strong> because the government has several programs that operate independently and in silos.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What are the three most common types of cancer in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The breast, cervical, and oral constitute 34% of all cancer cases in India.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What can be done to reduce incidence of cancer in India and mortality?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Screening must be the first intervention. Screening should lead to hospital treatment, which should be accessible and affordable. The current one cancer care facility for every 5-crore people in India must be increased. The need is to ensure that people are diagnosed early and treated promptly and there is a need to coordinate existing efforts.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-health\/cancer-in-india-a-status-report-8385754\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong><u>What will it take for India to replicate cancer decline like in the US<\/u><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/about-cancer\/understanding\/what-is-cancer#:~:text=Cancer%20is%20a%20disease%20caused,are%20also%20called%20genetic%20changes.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong><u>Cancer.gov<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>VIDEO:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S9kWI5Mmoeo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S9kWI5Mmoeo<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cancer is a disease in which some of the body\u2019s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":33238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}