In response to a question in the Lok Sabha, the government has said that between 2018 and 2020, more than 40 lakh cancer cases were reported in the country. According to the government data, 22.54 lakh people died due to cancer in the said period.
On Friday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya answered questions related to cancer in the proceedings of the tenth day of Lok Sabha in the budget session of Parliament. He said that in 2020, 13,92,179 cases of cancer were reported; 13,58,415 cases were reported in 2019. In 2018, there were 13,25,232 cancer patients.
The health minister said that in 2020, 7,70,230 people died due to cancer. In 2019, 7,51,517 people died due to the disease, while 7,33,139 people died due to cancers in 2018. He told that cancer is a multifactorial disease. The major factors of cancer include the ever-increasing population, sedentary lifestyle, use of tobacco products, alcohol, unhealthy diet and air pollution, he added.
Cancer treatment under PMJAY
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the screening of common cancers is an integral part of Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centers (HWC). He said, under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), 22 new AIIMS and several advanced institutes have focused on various aspects of oncology. He said that cancer treatment is also available under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).
Cancer deaths worldwide
In 2019, about one crore people died due to cancer. This is an increase of 20.9% compared to 2010. In 2010, 82.9 lakh people died of cancer. These figures have come to the fore in a recent scientific study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
The data also showed that, in 2019, the number of new cases of cancer had increased to 23 million. Significantly, this is the figure of those patients who came only in 2019. Earlier, the figure for those who were suffering from this disease is different.